Know Your Enemy
by Tine
Summary: Two people who were never meant to come together, do exactly that in a mixture of love, passion and lust. Which of the three means more to the pair? HD SLASH. Complete
1. I'm With You

Know Your Enemy  
  
Summary: Two people who were never meant to come together, do exactly that in a mixture of love, passion and lust. Which of the three means more to the pair? H/D Slash. Don't like, don't read.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter... I just mentally and physically destroy them, before returning them to the brilliant JK Rowling. "No! Draco! Drink the poison now!" It's lots of fun!  
  
Rating: R. Hey, they're seventeen!  
  
Author's Note: Okay. I've resorted to writing a Draco/Harry fanfic. I've always wanted to do it.... I was just worried it might not meet you fine readers' standards. Well too bad. I'm writing one anyway. I adore Draco/Harry. I really think they're perfect for each other. So after this fic, I'll probably write loads more.  
  
So, now you're thinking, "Well what distinguishes this Draco/Harry fic from all the others?" Since I write so very well (I'm lying) I'm going to put my writing skills (hey, all writers have them) to good cause. It also might have a twist in it, because a lot of the D/H fanfiction here is very predictable. (Not to be insulting anyone's work, I am merely making a statement). You know, the: Everyone but them knows they're in love, Ron's against it, Hermione's for it. I'm not trying to insult anyone if that's what happens in their fics, I just like reading ones that have a completely different view on them. So, if I get even a single flame from a homophobe, or from someone who thinks my work is crap, you're going down. So think before you write.  
  
My favourite Draco/Harry fanfics are Unfogging the Future by Pepperjack Candy, Unthinkable Thoughts by Aidan Lynch, and anything written by Kiara (seeing as most of it is D/H, which I love her for). But mostly I must recommend the brilliant Resident Goddess. She writes absolutely amazing D/H fanfiction and every day I check to see if she's written a new one, updated or whatever. She also wrote a hilarious D/H fic (A Very Harry New year, featuring Draco in tights) BECAUSE I ASKED HER TO! I was pleased to say that least. She's my favourite author on fanfiction, so do not hesitate to read her stuff. It's all very amazing. Read all the D/H fics I've mentioned. Draco and Harry are so cute together (and the fact that Draco is extremely sexy makes it all the more fun to read)!  
  
This fanfic is going to be alternate 1st person narrative between Harry and Draco. The first chapter will be Draco's thoughts, second chapter will be Harry's and so on. If for any reason, I must switch unexpectedly, I will warn you first. 8-) Hope you enjoy this and I apologize for the incessent rambling. I'm very random as you will soon see. Anyway.... R&R.  
  
  
  
I remember the day, the time, the weather, where I was... even the smell. Depressing as it is. It was the summer before my seventh year, July 31st, midnight, my room, I'd been reading a boring article in the previous day's Daily Prophet. The air outside my window smelled like him. That was unusual, but the thought was abandoned.  
  
Why did I remember all these things? Well it was when I first realized that I had fallen for Harry Potter. But he's a celebrity.... how should that be any more different than someone at school developing a crush on the famous boy? Well exactly that. He's a boy.... and so am I.  
  
Why did I come to this astonishing realization right then? I'm not quite sure. I was just reading an article about an old woman named Jarka Williams and suddenly, just as the grandfather clock in the hallway chimed midnight, I thought of him. Rather than throw the Daily Prophet across the room in disgust, I soon found I was getting a hard on. Thinking about his untidy ebony hair, his emerald green eyes and just what might be under those robes of his, I sat there, feeling so very ashamed, clenching my fists.  
  
I was terrified. I'd known I was gay since the beginning of sixth year and I'd got excited over many people in dreams since, all ranging from a very romantic walk on the beach with Justin Finch-Fletchey and even a violently disturbing dream about Harry Potter's own best friend, Ron Weasley. And the problem with that was that our families hated each other. Not unlike that muggle story, Romeo and Juliet. Except I wasn't crushing on Weasley.... I was crushing on Potter. *That* was bad because he was my sworn enemy.  
  
So what made Harry so different from Ron or Justin? Well... I did at first think it might not be anything (that maybe it really was just Potter's turn in this circle of love I had going) but as the days wore on, I found I could scarcely keep my mind off of him. After doing some extensive research on Potter, I found out my crush had turned seventeen that very day. All I could think was, 'Well damn.... if I figured out that I have a crush on me enemy the moment he turned seventeen, that must be some sort of sign'. I hate signs.  
  
As days, weeks and eventually a month passed, I began to become quite obsessed with my new found crush. When I returned to Hogwarts, things only got all the more complicated.  
  
*  
  
The Welcoming Feast was great. It was when I got my first glimpse of Harry in two months. I could feel the hard on right through my jeans and robes. I had to quickly look at Pansy. As soon as I'd calmed down I chanced another glance at him.  
  
He was beautiful. His hair was just as untidy as always, his eyes were a fiery green and his smooth face made me all the more eager to jump over all the tables, grab Harry and kiss him roughly. I was not going to do that. No way.  
  
So I just continued watching him for the rest of the Sorting. As soon as the meal started, I was immediately sought out in conversation. Everyone wanted to know how my summer had gone. Truthfully, it had been horrible. Full to the brim with my nagging mother and horribly evil father. I'd stayed in my room for most of it and when my father had come in to smack me or tell me to get a move on, I'd simply say I wasn't feeling well. Usually it worked, sometimes it made things worse.  
  
"Oh it was wonderful. Father, Mother and I went on a vacation. To this wizard/witch resort abroad. It was highly entertaining. I even got to practice some new spells there. Father told me they wouldn't be able to track the magic down in Canada." All the seventh year Slytherins were nodding their heads. They weren't actually listening, of course. We never really listened to each other. Nodded our heads, asked questions. One of us was always talking, and the others pretended to listen. The only Slytherin who broke this unspoken rule was Pansy. She always listened to my stories rather intently. It was unnerving. She was smiling.  
  
"Mother took me to see the wonders in Japan. Not the muggles, of course, the purest of blood wizards and witches we could find. They were going on about how I should be made next empress. That was highly enteretaining as well," Pansy submitted to the conversation. I processed the information and came to the conclusion that it was a lie. Pansy had been working for Voldemort during the summer in muggle London. I almost told Pansy I knew what she'd really done when Dumbledore stood up.  
  
"I have many start of term announcements to make. Remember that the Forbidden Forest is exactly that. Please keep away from it," his eyes darted to Harry, Ron and Hermione, "No magic in the corridors, no going into Hogsmeade without a permission slip, no leaving the common room after curfew, no going off grounds after dinner, and please keep the Astronomy Tower for astronomy. Now that I've made Hogwarts sound like a very boring and tasteless place, why don't I announce who the Head Boy and Girl are this year. For Head Girl..... Ms Hermione Granger of Gryffindor."  
  
There was an eruption like a volcano from the Gryffindor table. Hermione was in her seat, her head on her arms, probably crying. Harry and Ron were cheering and hugging her endlessly. I wished I was in her place. All the seventh years were whistling and jumping around. Finally the cheering died down and Dumbledore smiled.  
  
"Yes, well done Hermione. The Head Boy is....... Mr Draco Malfoy of Slytherin."  
  
There was absolute silence as the words sunk in. Suddenly I realised.... I'd beat out all the other seventh year boys. "YES!" I shouted and some people started laughing. That of course got lots of applause and cheering as well. I thought of applauding myself but realized that would be very arrogant so I settled for gloating.  
  
"Well done, Draco. Now, if the Head Boy and Girl would stay after supper, it would be appreciated. Prefects lead the younger students back to their houses. Thank you." Pansy threw her arms around me the second I sat down, screeching her congratulations. I involuntarily shuddered. Pansy touching me was just a little disgusting.  
  
"Got to meet with Dumbledore, Pansy. Sorry." I quickly jumped out of her embrace and stuck my finger down my throat as I walked away. Unfortunately, Hermione, who had been walking toward Dumbledore, saw me.  
  
"What was that, Malfoy? Don't like Ratface touching you?" she asked, a smile on her face. Her teeth looked a lot better than they had before my shrinking spell hit her in Fourth Year. Hermione was actually rather pretty, if only I wasn't attracted to guys. I grinned.  
  
"Nope." She smiled back.  
  
"Hello Hermione, Draco. Follow me." Dumbledore lead us out of the Great Hall and down a corridor, "how was your summer?"  
  
"Wonderful," Hermione gushed, "I spent it with Harry and Ron at the Burrow. It was strange. Without a whole bunch of Weasleys walking around. It was just us three and Ginny. So much fun."  
  
"I can imagine. How about you, Draco?" Dumbledore inquired, while we ascended a flight of stairs.  
  
Now I could have lied. Told the same lie I'd told the Slytherins. But for some reason, Dumbledore's piercing gaze made me tell the truth, "honestly, I stayed in my room all summer and hid from Mother and Father." I neglected to add why. But Hermione was sure to ask.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Have you got a mother? Mine is one of those 'Pick up your clothes Draco, stop feeding Sitty Draco, stay out of your father's way Draco, eat your dessert Draco, get better marks Draco, shut up Draco'. She never forgets my name." Hermione laughed.  
  
"Who's Sitty?"  
  
"My cat," I replied shortly, "died last year 'cause I fed him too much. I hate when mothers are right." She laughed again.  
  
"You don't like eating you dessert?" she asked as we came up to a statue of a gargoyle.  
  
"No. Because we always have the same horrible pineapple pie." Suddenly the gargoyle jumped out of the way to reveal two oak wooden doors. I gaped, "that's the passward? Pineapple pie?"  
  
"It is indeed. Usually takes Harry at least ten guesses to get my password," Dumbledore said, grinning. I could feel myself getting excited at the mere mention of his name. I breathed deeply and smiled back hastily. He guided us into his office, "I'm glad to see that you two aren't tearing at each other's throats."  
  
"We became civil toward each other last year," Hermione explained, sitting in a chair in front of the headmaster's desk, "we decided that if we were both on the same side, we might as well become friends. Right?" I nodded.  
  
"When we finally became friends, Ron and Harry got a bit defensive. They're still rotten to me. Oh well," I said, although my stomach flip flopped when I said Harry's name.  
  
"They'll come around, Draco, I'm sure of it. It might take Ron longer than Harry because of the rivalry between your families, but I'm sure he'll take your friendship some day." Inside, I was grinning like a madman.  
  
"Well, here I was thinking I had to warn you two not to start arguments as an example for the younger students. Well, there isn't anything I have to talk to you about. Except remember that Voldemort is indeed out there. We need the older students to... make the younger ones feel safe. Even though I'm sure you're probably very scared, try and put on a brave face for your fellow classmates," Dumbledore said. Hermione and I nodded and left his office together.  
  
"So.... was your father pressuring you to be a Death Eater all summer?" Hermione asked, once the door had slid shut behind us.  
  
"Yes," I answered and Hermione nodded.  
  
"It must be really horrible. Remember that we've got the best witches and wizards of all time on our side. We're going to win. I'm sure of it," she said. I nodded again. I didn't feel like talking about that.  
  
"Enough of my summer. How are you and Ron doing?" I inquired.  
  
"Horrible. He's really angry that I'm your friend. He said if I remained your friend he'd never kiss me again. He came up and kissed me an hour later. Harry's been really distant lately, too. But I'm not sure if that's the reason. So what about you? How are the Slytherins taking our unexpected friendship?"  
  
"They think I'm going to betray you. They've got nothing to say, really. Even if they did, I wouldn't care."  
  
"You've changed, you know that," Hermione said, "I like it."  
  
"You haven't. I was just too blind to see what a nice person you are."  
  
"That was sweet," Hermione grinned.  
  
"I was trying," I replied, familiar smirk on my face. "So," I said, throwing all caution to the wind, "Harry. How is he exactly? Getting along all right?"  
  
"I don't honstly know. He won't tell me anything. It's rather frustrating, really. So... anything in the love departmant?"  
  
"No," I answered, a little too quickly.  
  
"All right," Hermione replied, looking doubtful "Well, see you tomorrow. Want to meet at the lake around 4.00?"  
  
"Sure." We split up and went to our separate houses.  
  
In bed nights later, I thought of Harry. We'd had our first day of classes. The thing about Harry was that he never physically got very much older, but emotionally, he got older every single day. When Professor Snape asked Harry the first question of the year, Harry answered: "Why don't you just ask Hermione? You know she knows the answer." Snape had been shocked to say the least. He'd taken ten points from Gryffindor, but it didn't matter. Harry had still proven his point, for Snape hadn't asked him another question all class.  
  
It took me another couple months to realise that I was in love. Truly, madly, deeply in love with Harry Potter. It usually takes people years to find someone they love. It took me six.  
  
*  
  
As the days wore on, Hermione and I got closer and closer. One day, in October I decided to tell her about my dilemma.  
  
"What do you think of gays and lesbians?" I asked, shortly one day.  
  
"That came out of nowhere. Why do you ask?" she was leaning against a tree, swirling a dendelion between her fingers.  
  
"I don't know. Curious, I guess." I was eating a blade of grass.  
  
"Well... I believe diversity is very important. So I think that if two men or women are truly in love, then there's no reason they should be treated differently than a man and woman in love." I inwardly sighed with relief. Then I knew I had to tell her.  
  
"Hermione. I'm gay."  
  
"I figured," she replied and grabbed my right hand with hers, "the question came out of nowhere. You've never had a girlfriend and you care way to much about your appearance. But there's nothing wrong with it, Draco."  
  
"Well seeing as you're the smartest witch in the year, I won't worry that everyone in school has figued it out. You're just special I guess," I said, eating another blade of grass.  
  
"That's right, I am. So... any guys you're crushing on?" she asked. I nodded. "Who!?" she demanded.  
  
"Not telling."  
  
"Yes you are, you're going to, or I'm going to tickle you with this dandelion!" she said. I'm very ticklish so I nodded and said I would, but she did it anyway. I grabbed her and we began to fight a bit. Just playful fighting, though. Finally, she bit my hand, drew blood and sat back up.  
  
"Tell me now!" she said, opening her mouth to show me her teeth. I shuddered. It had really hurt, "it's not Ron, is it?" I shook my head, feeling a but guilty, remembering the dream I'd had over the summer.  
  
"I like.... I think I love.... Harry," I said in a quiet voice.  
  
"That is so cute!" Hermione shrieked and got to her feet. She ran around in a circle shouting, "DRACO MALFOY IS CUTE!"  
  
"Is he now?" asked a furious voice behind me. I looked up from my spot on the ground, my head still resting against the grass to see Ron standing there, a very angry expression on his face. Hermione had stopped running.  
  
"Oh hi Ron," Hermione said calmly, "Draco told me something cute and so I was saying that he was cute because of what he said. Not that he's actually physically cute, although he is." I grinned, sitting up.  
  
"Hermione! He's Draco Malfoy. My sworn enemy."  
  
"Oh please, Ron," Hermione said walking over to him and shaking him slightly, "this silly feud between you two has got to stop. Draco's willing to apologize, aren't you Draco?" I nodded, "and you're willing to accept, aren't you Ron? Because unlike you, I can actually live without kissing my boyfriend for an hour. Either you accept his friendship, or I won't be kissing you any time soon."  
  
Ron turned around and walked right back to the school. I was sincerely shocked, and by the look on Hermione's face, so was she.  
  
"Well that went well," I said after a moment.  
  
"Better than I thought it would, actually," she said and we both cracked up laughing.  
  
*  
  
Ron went cold turkey for two whole weeks. He didn't kiss Hermione once in that duration of time.  
  
But some important things happened on the anniverary of those two weeks. Hermione looked up thoughtfully.  
  
"I'm worried about Harry," my ears perked up at the mention of his name, "Ron is his best friend, better than me. If there was something wrong he'd tell Ron, and Ron would tell me. But I've heard nothing."  
  
"Perhaps because you said you wouldn't kiss Ron until he accepted my apology," I said, during double Potions one afternoon. We were working on Veritaserum. Hermione was my partner and we were talking in hushed tones, hoping no one would hear.  
  
"Shut up, Draco. I'm doing this for you. It's really hard not kissing Ron when I'm attracted to him."  
  
"Think how it is for me," I said quietly and Hermione didn't say anything for a good minute and a half.  
  
"But you two aren't dating."  
  
"No, we aren't," I echoed, sprinkling some lace wings into the murky red depths of the water.  
  
"Sorry. That was thoughtless," Hermione admitted, "I just mean -"  
  
"I know what you mean," I interrupted. She smiled sadly.  
  
"Back to the matter at hand. You must watch him once in a awhile. Have you noticed anything about him?" Hermione asked.  
  
"If this potion supposed to be orange?" I asked.  
  
"Yes... a little lighter, add some more of that," she said pointing to a jar.  
  
I took care in crushing the ingredients and tossing them into the cauldron. We were both silent for another five minutes, Hermione cutting up the shrivelfig and I mashing the cockroaches. "Of course I've noticed things."  
  
Hermione's head snapped up to face me. "Like?" she asked, her knife missing the shrivelfig and slicing a spare cockroach right in half. I chuckled (which was insane, as I never chuckle) and tipped the bowl of crushed cockroaches into the potion.  
  
"It's so annoying!" shouted an irritated voice across the dungeons. All eyes travelled to Ron and Harry. Harry looked around sheepishly while Ron blushed to the roots of his hair. Hermione smirked as Snape subtracted ten points from Gryffindor.  
  
The two of us were quiet again. "When he's talking to Ron, he always looks guilty," I replied after a couple minutes.  
  
"Really?" It was a rhetorical question. She muttered something that sounded like 'I knew it!' and looked back at me.  
  
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked.  
  
"No," I replied truthfully. Hermione laughed.  
  
"I'm guessing he's got something really big on his mind," Hermione whispered, "chances are, it may be so big, he's scared to share it with his best friend. But maybe his other best friend....." Hermione was lost in her thoughts until the end of class. It was really rather amazing that she could think about one thing and do something completely different at the same time.  
  
*  
  
I watched him. Okay, so I always watched him. This time, I was watching him from my spot on the grass. It was slightly damp (it had rained the night before) and uncomfortable, but I couldn't do anything about it. Hagrid was talking. About centaurs. I was watching Harry's face. It was screwed up in a wide smile. Watching it made me want to smile as well. I had become religiously obsessed with Harry. I felt my heart jump when he spoke.  
  
"How's Firenze doing, Hagrid?" Harry asked, green eyes sparkling. I wasn't close enough to his face to actually see this, but after watching him for two months, I'd memorised his every laugh line... his every expression. Whenever I heard the tone of voice he was using, I knew exactly what he was doing with his eyes, hair, hands, mouth, nose, forehead. While some would find that extremely creepy and weird.... I'd just say it's something to pass the time. Only twice had he ever managed to catch me studying him.  
  
The first time, he'd stared back for a good twenty seconds, then he'd given me an inquisitive look and turned back to his friends. The second time, only a week ago, he'd looked up from his cauldron and caught me staring at him. Then he'd given me a little smile.  
  
I don't think I've ever been so pleased. I quickly turned away and a moment later, a wide grin had spread across my face. It was good he'd continued with his potion by that time.  
  
"He's great... but yeh can ask him that yourself, if yeh like," Hagrid said and suddenly, a large centaur strolled right onto the Hogwarts grounds from behind the picket fence. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. Unless you were using Harry as a comparison. Harry beat all the amazing things in the world. Harry was the defintion of amazing. I recognized the centaur. Harry had riden him in our first year during our detention in the Forbidden Forest "class, this is Firenze. Firenze, this is my seventh year Gryffindor/Slytherin class."  
  
"Pleased to meet you, friends of Hagrid," the creature said and I saw a few Slytherins scoff. I almost smiled, but caught myself in time.  
  
"Firenze here is going to be giving you all a ride. But only if yer worthy. Trushworthy, tha' is. If he doesn't trust you, you'll ride one next class. You simply put your hand on Firenze's back and if he says you can ride him, hop on." I was intrigued. "Harry, since yer familiar with him, why don't you go first?"  
  
"Sure," Harry said in an excited voice, and I could feel him gertting to his feet quickly. I felt him approach Firenze and put his hand on the centaur's back.  
  
"Get on Harry," the centaur said and Harry climbed on his back. They trotted off around the lake. Hermione walked over.  
  
"Do you remember Firenze?" she asked.  
  
"How could I forget. He was the one who rescued Harry in our first year." Hermione nodded eagerly.  
  
"Bet you half these Slytherins won't be welcome on his back," Hermione said.  
  
"Well no, I hardly think anyone would be welcome on Harry's back."  
  
"You're sick Draco!" Hermione shouted, grabbing me around the neck, but she was laughing. She rubbed my head with her knuckles. I pushed her away.  
  
"That is my hair!" I said indignantly and she laughed so hard she fell to the floor, giggling. I frowned at her until she stood up.  
  
"I'm a Slytherin, I take offense to that," I said, thinking about what she'd said.  
  
"He'll let you ride him, I'm sure of it."  
  
"Boy do I ever hope so," I replied.  
  
"Are we talking about Harry or Firenze?" Hermione asked, a huge smile on her face. I narrowed my eyes.  
  
"Take your pick," I replied and we both laughed. Meanwhile, Firenze was returning with Harry. Harry climbed off and hugged the centaur before returning to Ron.  
  
People began taking their turns with Firenze. When my turn finally came, I was so nervous, my hands were sweating and my breath was coming in short, painful gasps. I approached Firenze and held out my hand, placing it palm down on the shiny brown fur. I was expecting the centaur to flinch away from the touch but it actually relaxed against my hand. I smiled so wide I'm sure it shattered into a million pieces, and stroked his fur smoothly and rhythmically. It was enough for me, but a moment later Firenze said:  
  
"Climb on, friend." I sighed with relief, settled my hands around his neck and pulled myself onto his back. It was the most exhilerating feeling ever. He began trotting away from the class, "Your name, friend?"  
  
"Draco."  
  
"That means dragon in latin, does it not?"  
  
"Yes," I answered and could feel myself nodding.  
  
"Is there anything you would like to talk about. I will not tell you your future but I'm a very good listener. I felt this inexplicable feeling of trust. I fel tlike I could tell Firenze everyting. I did just that.  
  
"Well. I'm sort of in love."  
  
"That is a very wonderful feeling, wouldn't you agree?"  
  
"Yes," I replied, "but the person I love is of the same gender."  
  
"I see. Would I know this person?"  
  
"It's Harry." I said it before I could lose me nerve. I was sure Firenze would launch me off his back into the lake, but he did not.  
  
"Have you told him that you love him?" he asked. I sneered.  
  
"Yes and get the biggest rejection of my life," I replied.  
  
"Don't be so sure. You must be willing to take chances in life, Draco. Otherwise you'll never even get the oppurtunity to be rejected."  
  
"I'd rather be out of love, than be out of love because the one I loved didn't love me back and told me so," I said, "I appreciate your kind words and I will think them over. But put yourself in my shoes. I'm Harry's rival, I'm a boy, I'm a Slytherin. I doubt any of those things appeal to him."  
  
"Do you know that for sure?" he asked.  
  
"No."  
  
"I recommend knowing before speaking," Firenze said gently. I thought about that. Firenze was very smart. Now I really did wonder. Did I stand half a chance?  
  
"Bring me back to the class. I have to see him again to decide if I love him enough to risk the pain of his rejection." Firenze nodded his head and broke off at a run toward the class. Just as I got off, the centaur called me back.  
  
"Oh Draco!" he said and I turned to him.  
  
"Sometimes you must risk the pain of rejection if the other option is so much better. You may very well get what you want. Don't be afraid to make the move." I looked at Firenze and smiled.  
  
"Thank you, Firenze. I'll keep that in mind." Hagrid has just called Crabbe over and was attempting to get Firenze to calm down. I walked over to Hermione, Harry and Ron. It occured to me that I'd never actually apologized to Ron or Harry ot their faces. Hermione had always done it.  
  
"Hi," I said in a quiet voice and all three of their heads turned to look at me, "let's do this properly." I held out my hand, "my name is Draco. I've heard you three can be good company." A glance at Hermione, who was grinning, a glance at Ron, who was considering me with an inqusitive look in his eye, and a glance down at the hand in mine.... that belonged to Harry! I almost completely freaked out at the smooth touch of his creamy white skin.  
  
"Nice to meet you," he said, "my name is Harry. This is Ron and this is Hermione. We're good company if you like lots of adventure, plenty of petty arguments and good, loyal frienship. What do you say?" I settled my gaze on Harry's perfect face and after a moment, I smiled. Not a grin, or a smirk. A smile.  
  
"I say, sounds like my kind of friends." It was miraculous what the returned smile did to my legs, which suddenly felt rather unstable. I pulled my hand out of Harry's and held it out in front of Ron. I was very scared he'd reject my friendship right there. If I wanted to have even a slight chance with Harry, I had to be on good terms with his best friend.  
  
"Ron Weasley, is it? I've heard lost about you," out of the corner of my eye I saw Hermione give me a worried look, but I continued, "I like the bright red hair. Really stands out in a crowd. Hey, look. Would you accpet my apology please? I'm trying here."  
  
Ron studied me for a moment and held out his hand. Then he grabbed mine and pulled me into one of those manly hugs. We slapped backs and he smiled.  
  
"Sure mate! Nice to have you in the group." I grinned. I grined and grinned and grinned.  
  
  
  
Um.... yeah. I would never demand reviews in exchange for a chapter but if I get more five or more reviews, the next chapter may get up *faster*. -Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge- As it stands, it's not yet written but it's on the way.  
  
Right. So what did you think? Constuctive criticism welcome. I really don't want to get any reviews saying that Draco and Harry, Ron, Hermione would never be friends because Ron hates him, Harry hates him and Hermione's a muggle-born. You've just seen what happened and Harry and Ron's quick acceptance of Draco will be explained in the next chapter. It's my story, and in it, they're friends. So if Draco's OOC, it's because he's seventeen. He's not a little kid anymore. Remember to think before you flame me. Make it good or you'll get a nasty reply back. Ciao!  
  
Tine! 8-) 


	2. Love Is Like Oxygen

Chapter 2  
  
Disclaimer: This isn't mine, dammit! Why do insist on asking me when I've already told you. It's JK Rowling's! I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER. (I wish I owned Draco).  
  
Rating: R  
  
Author's Note: Oh my God! I am appalled at the feedback I've gotten! Appalled in a good way! I can hardly believe it. I had to put this up as soon as possible, seeing as I did indeed get five reviews! Thank you so very much, all of you!  
  
Thanks to Carly (my faithful reviewer who has never failed to brighten my day with a review), LadyDeath, Cyber (thanks for reviewing all of my stories, it made me smile!), PromDateWithNoEyes, alexandra (something like that, yeah....), Copocobana (you're right... they are slightly rushed thoughts. I loved Catcher In The Rye, amazing book. I always thought Draco's sarcasm and cynicism was a mask... hopefully I can make him more sarcastic in this chapter and the ones following it), Emiko (I adore Draco as well, can you teach me the Draco dance?), Anna, kittycatgirl, Your Silencer (I love the energizer bunny, just keep going and going and going...), Ru Av Natten (I enjoyed writing Draco and Hermione's conversations as they're both very intelligent and seem to be on the same wave-length), bthatcher2002 (glad you liked it!), hyalite, sarsar, Jessica Jevees (thanks for reviewing, you're gonna love this chapter, plenty of Harry feeling and thinking).  
  
And thanks to LadyDeath, Scott, Dark Angel, Souf-up, WitchGirl and Cyber for adding to their favourites list! Thanks to a for adding me! You rock a!!!  
  
Thanks to muse Todd, who makes me write about everything. The tiny, tiny amount of disgusting fluff in this chapter will beging the earning of my R rating. Todd made me write it. Don't blame in your review. Blame him.  
  
Oh yes! Wait! I want you all, before you read this, to bow your heads in memory of an extremely amazing person! Today, December 9th, is the 22nd anniversary of the death of John Lennon. If you don't know who he is, well, you're crazy. He's one of the members of The Beatles. The most amazing band in the world after Nirvana. John Lennon was murdered 22 years ago today. In the words of Albus Dumbledore, 'Death is but the next great adventure'. Rest in peace, John!  
  
  
  
Hermione, Ron and I watched as everyone began to take their turns with Firenze. Ron cackled madly when Firenze rejected Pansy Parkinson. Hermione looked nervous when her turn came around, but she had fun. At Ron's turn he was screamed "I'm the king of the world!" and the like. Everyone went silent when Malfoy approached Frienze. I felt my stomach flip flop (probably because I was worried Malfoy would somehow try to get Hagrid fired) as I watched him walk toward the centaur. He looked nervous. But what was I thinking, Malfoys never get nervous.  
  
Ron and I gasped when Malfoy put his hand on Firenze's back, and Firenze visibly relaxed. We stared at the two of them in utter bewilderment. Then we looked at each other.  
  
"Ron...." I said slowly, as the two of thee rode off around the lake, "if Hermione trusts Malfoy, and Firenze trusts Malfoy... maybe we should too." Ron looked at me with a shocked look on his face.  
  
"Are you serious?"  
  
"Yes, I think I am," I replied.  
  
"Oh I'm so proud of you!" Hermione shrieked and threw her arms around me and then Ron. We were silent after that. Malfoy and Firenze were circling the lake and coming back toward the class. Malfoy got off of Firenze and began to walk away.  
  
"Oh Draco!" Firenze shouted and Malfoy turned around to hear the cantaur's last words. That was part of the reason I decided to do it. The minute Malfoy had touched Firenze and the centaur hadn't flinched away in pain or fear, I knew he was trustworthy. And when Firenze called him Draco (and I'd been calling him Malfoy for years) that told me something. Maybe I couldn't see the real picture. In life, if you want something bad enough, you'll work for it. If I want to destroy Voldemort so badly, I'll take anyone. Even Malfoy.  
  
Maybe Malfoy was a spoiled, stuck up little rich kid, but he wasn't evil. I was sure of that. If Hermione didn't think him evil, then who were we to doubt her judgement?  
  
So when Malfoy came up and asked for our friendship, I accepted. It was not long after that, I became very taken to that spoiled, stuck up little rich kid. When you have a girlfriend, that can be a bad thing.  
  
*  
  
"What are you doing, Malfoy?" I asked when I ascended a flight of stairs to find the blonde boy at the top of them, reading a book.  
  
"I'm dying!" Malfoy said, very dramatically, and dropped the book. He lay against the wall and stuck his tongue out. He stayed like that for a a good ten seconds. Then he sat up and picked the book up off the floor, "reading."  
  
I felt sort of stupid. He'd been reading a book. I was much too suspicious of Malfoy. I had to get to know him better. So I slunk down beside him on the floor and glanced at the book he was reading.  
  
"Life in the Fancy?" I read off the cover, "what's it about?"  
  
"Nothing," Malfoy said in all too much of a rush. Annoyed that he wasn't being completely honest with me, I opened the book to a random place and began to read out loud.  
  
"Jake grasped Doug's throbbing manhood, stroking it up and down -" I read and stopped, thinking about what I'd read, "huh?"  
  
"Thanks a lot, I'm not there yet!" Malfoy complained and I stared at him, jaw slack.  
  
"You read this stuff?"  
  
"Sometimes," he said and I could scarcely believe it.  
  
"Isn't Jake a man's name?" I inquired.  
  
"Most of the time, yes," Malfoy said, "do you like that kind of stuff? Would you like to borrow it?"  
  
"Um...." I said, "yes, I would." I was horrified. Had that just come out of my mouth? I didn't want Malfoy making incorrect assumptions about me. Inside I was screaming. This was so not good. Outside, I smiled and closed the book for him.  
  
"You can borrow it when I'm finished in a couple days," Malfoy said and fixed his gaze on my eyes.  
  
"Right," I mumbled, "so.... since we're sort of friends now.... we could ask each other questions about ourselves."  
  
"Shotgun!" Malfoy said and I found myself laughing.  
  
"All right, what do you want to know?" I asked.  
  
"The most obvious thing," Malfoy replied, tilting his head back on the wall. It exposed the creamy white skin of his neck. I suddenly had difficulty swallowing.  
  
"Which is?"  
  
"Well, if you tell me about your background, I'll tell you about mine. There's hardly anything to tell but...." Malfoy stretched out his legs.  
  
"Oh. From the beginning?" Malfoy studied me carefully. Then he spoke, though it seemed as though he headn't moved his mouth.  
  
"From the beginning." I could have lied to him or fled right from him. But something about his eyes told me he could be trusted.  
  
"Okay. All I remember about my parents' death is a green flash and...." I paused. I had never told anyone the story from my side. Now that someone had asked.... I knew I would tell it. I wanted people to know. Malfoy had an encouraging look on his face. .... And a lot of laughter. Probably Voldemort's." Malfoy's eyes went wide.  
  
"You said his name!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Yes, I did. It's just a name. So, continuing.... that's all I really remember. But I've *heard* my parents' death. Because when the dementors get near me, I hear them being murdered." Malfoy's face went whiter than his hair.  
  
"Oh God. I teased you about that. I'm so sorry." He looked sincere about it, too. I waved the apology away and went on.  
  
"Voldemort came to their house on Halloween night. My Dad fought him to give my Mum time to run. He died courageously that night. For her and for me. I know my Mum burst though a couple doors and then Voldemort caught up with her. He didn't want to kill my Mum. He wanted to kill me. But my mother would have none of it. She died that night, to save me. My mother and father sacrificed their lives for me. I'm grateful for it. But I miss them so much." I was horrified when I felt tears on my face.  
  
Malfoy saw them too, and he wiped them away before putting his arms around me. It was heavenly. When he finally let go, I was a bit disappointed. Which was an insane thought. But I had more to tell.  
  
"Somehow when Voldemort turned his wand on me, I didn't die. It was because of my mother. When she died to save me that night, she gave a certain amount of protection to me. Her love saved my life." I didn't want to cry anymore but a few more tears escaped. "My only living relatives were a bunch of muggles. My Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, and their disgusting son Dudley Dursley. I've lived there for a good majority of my life. And I hate it. For the first ten years of my life they told me my parents had died in a car crash. They lied about me being a wizard and when I got my letter to go to Hogwarts, they wouldn't let me read it. But the letters kept coming. It got so bad, we went and lived in a hut on a rock. Hagrid came to that little hut, told me about wizards and witches, and what had really happened to my parents."  
  
"That's horrible!" Malfoy said, "There must be a law about muggles lieing to wizards. How could they not tell you the truth about your parents. Or that you're not some ordinary boy. You're the Boy-Who-Lived. And they never told you any of it. It's insane. It really is." I smirked.  
  
"Yeah. Well enough about me, what about you?"  
  
"Oh great. Let's see... when I was a baby, I don't remember anything important at all. My father was a very demanding man but he never wanted hugs, kisses, love declerations or hope descriptions. I never once heard him say 'I love you, Draco' or 'Just keep hoping and it'll happen, Draco'. My mother nags me so much.... I just want to sock her in the face. She won't leave me alone for even a minute of the day. She'll bring clean clothes into my room, going on about how impossible it is to open my door. She's carrying clothes in her arms. What the hell does she expect?" I laughed. Maybe I shouldn't have, but Malfoy's parents sounded a lot like Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.  
  
"My mother and father are particularly fond of my name. Draco. It comes fter every thing they say to me. 'Think about joining our side, Draco' or "What are you doing, Draco? Put that down, Draco!' or even 'Do that again and I'll hit you, Draco'. God damn it, does it ever piss me off."  
  
"They hits you?" I asked.  
  
"My father and only a little. Usually when I'm "being really stupid". He doesn't hit very hard. I bruise easy. But you know.... still annoys me."  
  
"If it makes you feel better, my cousin Dudley punched me in the nose quite often. Broke it once. Uncle Vernon made me keep it broken for two hours before he took me to the hospital. That was definitely annoying."  
  
"Bloody hell, that's bad." Yes it is, I wanted to say but found I couldn't. I was busy staring at Malfoy's hair. It looked really soft. I felt like reaching out and putting my hand on it. I have a feeling Malfoy would have run very fast in the opposite direction if I had. (A/N: Don't you wish he'd done it!) I put my hands in my pockets for safety.  
  
"My turn. Got a girlfriend?"  
  
"No," Malfoy said, in a disappointed tone of voice.  
  
"It's nothing to be ashamed of." Malfoy nodded vaguely.  
  
"I was dating a kid named Alex not long ago...." Malfoy said, shrugging.  
  
"Oh you mean short for Alexandra, right?" I asked.  
  
"Yeah.... Alexandra was her name." He looked put out. I decided not to comment on it, "so who are you dating?"  
  
"Ginny," I answered, smiling widely, "I really like her." Malfoy nodded, his head bent down.  
  
"How serious are you two?" Malfoy asked.  
  
"Serious," I replied. I wasn't sure if I should be admitting very personal stuff to Malfoy just yet.  
  
"How serious?" More firmly this time. I was silent "Have you have sex?" he asked, eyes darting swiftly to search my face.  
  
"Yes," I replied.  
  
"Mon dieu!" Malfoy exclaimed, "the Weasley daughter.... sex at fifteen!"  
  
"She'd turned sixteen," I said quickly, remembering how hesitant I'd been the time. On her birthday we'd done it. We really respected each other and it hadn't changed our relationship one bit, "she has her birthday in June."  
  
"So I presume you do it regularly, then?" Malfoy asked. I felt uncomfortable but everyone in the school knew about Ginny and I after Colin Creevey had taken snapshots of us in a very unpleasant situation. It wasn't like Malfoy could spread rumors. Besides... this was an interesting conversation and I felt as though I could tell Malfoy pretty much anything.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I have to go...."  
  
"Where?" I demanded.  
  
"Meeting with a Ravenclaw," Malfoy answered, picking up his book and getting to his feet. I rose as well.  
  
"I though you said you don't have a girlfriend," I pointed out.  
  
"I don't. It doesn't stop me from the occasional one-night stand. See you, Potter." He turned and walked away, and I had to fight not to stare after him.  
  
"Bye Malfoy," I called after a few moments. There was no response. I stood there for a few moments before heading back to Gryffindor.  
  
*  
  
I entered the Great Hall and approached the Gryffindor table. Ginny rose out of her seat and pressed her lips gently to mine. We stood there kissing for a few moments and when we finally let go, Ginny was smiling. (A/N: Ewww! Sorry for blinding you.)  
  
"How was your night?" she asked.  
  
"It was good," I said taking my seat. I took a piece of toast, smeared blueberry jam on it and shoved the whole thing into my mouth, "yours?"  
  
"Terrible. Had this scary dream that you left me."  
  
"I'd never do that," I replied, and put my arm around her, drawing her body closer to mine. (A/N: Let's hope he does!)  
  
"Good," she mumbled sleepily and began to play with my messy hair. I handed her an apple and she took it, biting into it.  
  
"Oh good!" Ron said, from across them, "I was just bursting from all the waiting of your arrival, Harry. I couldn't wait for you to get here and snuggle up with my sister. I have a desperate craving to lose my breakfast." Hermione thwapped him on the head and her eyes unfocused as she made eye contact with someone across the room.  
  
"Ginny!" Hermione said suddenly, startling the two of us, "let's go for some Girl Talk before class starts." Ginny glanced confusedly at Hermione, nodded and turned to me.  
  
"What do you have now?" she asked.  
  
"Potions."  
  
"Damn it, I was hoping you could skip with me. Oh well... see you at lunch," she said, pulling me into another long kiss. When she pulled away I caught the disgusted look on Ron's face. Ginny and Hermione turned and walked away, talking animatedly.  
  
"So.... how's the relationship?" Ron asked, smiling knowingly.  
  
"It's fabulous. I really like Ginny. Not sure if she likes me, though," I admitted and Ron stared at me.  
  
"Right. You're blind, Harry. She loves you. Has since she first laid eyes on you. You've got nothing to worry about." I smiled at my best friend.  
  
"Glad to hear it."  
  
"Yes and if you hurt her, I know where you sleep," Ron pointed out.  
  
"I'll sleep tonight," I said sarcastically. Ron grinned.  
  
"Coming to Potions?" he asked.  
  
"Think I'd skip and risk Snape's fury?" I shot back.  
  
"Let's go then," Ron said and we set off for class. As I neared the doors to the Great Hall it felt like someone was watching me. But when I turned to look, whoever it was stopped.  
  
*  
  
Potions was certainly interesting. Ron and Hermione were just as touchy/feely as they'd been before Hermione's swearing off of kissing Ron. I was glad they weren't fighting anymore, but I knew I'd never get used to seeing my two best friends kiss passionately.  
  
Of course, that's not why Potions was interesting. I have the tendancy to let my mind wander. So that when I'm thinking about one thing, another thought will venture into the recesses of my mind. I'll try to stay on track.  
  
Potions was interesting because of Snape. Snape is horrible. He insists on making my life miserable. But that day, he was just stupid.  
  
"Longbottom!" Snape shouted from his desk, "If I have to watch you explode one more cauldron, I'm going to take a round fifty points from Gryffindor." Neville nodded, bit his lip and his eyes travelled to Hermione's sympathetic look. Automatically, it seemed, Hermione came to Neville's rescue. I glared at Snape before adding the Vampire Dandruff to my potion. I was refusing to touch it, and using latex gloves.  
  
Ron was concocting his own mixture of strange things. It was a red, orange and yellow coloured liquid. It had little chunks of random things in it. A couple of my hairs and Ron's, a bit of my shoelace, Ron's own saliva, a bit of some shit in a jar (no, not actual shit) I'd found on Snape's desk, and even Lavender Brown's hairpin. Snape was on the other side of the room, when I glanced up. So I dared Ron to drink it all in one shot. He looked up, checking himself that Snape was safely preoccupied, and downed half the glass in one shot.  
  
Ron began to splutter and cough violently and that was when Snape looked, up, saw what the two of us were up to and began to walk across the room.  
  
"Weasley, give that to me!" Snape ordered. Ron shook his head and began walking toward the sink.  
  
"I'll just pour it out."  
  
"No give it to me," Snape shouted, gathering the attention of all in the classroom.  
  
"Sir, I'm already halfway there," Ron replied and he was quite right.  
  
"GIVE IT TO ME NOW!" Snape roared and Ron gave him a surprised look.  
  
"Sorry," Ron muttered, walking toward Snape, "didn't realize being a teacher was such a stressful job." I snorted with laughter and had to duck under the table to hide it. Unfortunately, the class heard him (and were laughing heartily), as did Snape.  
  
"Thirty points from Gryffindor for insubordination!" Ron have him a dirty look before sitting down again and rolling his eyes. When I looked across the room at Snape, I saw that he was talking with Malfoy. They were discussing Potions. I listened to some of their words.  
  
"But if I add that, won't it explode?" Malfoy asked and Snape read the paragraph he was ponting to in a book.  
  
"Everyone stop what you're doing," Snape said quickly. Everyone stopped.  
  
"Draco here has found a mistake. If you add the Armadillo bile to the Vampire Dandruff, the potion will explode.  
  
That was when Neville's cauldron shot across the room and dented a wall. Neville glanced up, a look of total embarassment on his face.  
  
"Seeing as you didn't know it would explode, Longbottom, I'll let you off this time. Go get your cauldron," Snape snapped and Neville rushed across the room to pick it up as the bell rang.  
  
"Since my job is so stressful, why don't I give you a dose. Three paged report on this potion and why it exploded." Everyone groaned and sent death glares Ron's way.  
  
"Hey.... three pages nothing compared to you remark," I said and Ron grinned.  
  
"That's right. Looks like we'll have lots of homework tonight, though."  
  
*  
  
My hands roamed Ginny's body, my mouth upon hers. Her hands raked through my hair. I took my time kissing some of the skin on her neck. She shuddered and rolled herself onto the bed, bringing me down on top of her. I covered her face with kisses, soft, sweet kisses that left Ginny moaning softly.  
  
When we'd finally taken what we wanted from each other, we lay there, my arms encircling her waist.  
  
"That was amazing, Harry," Ginny whispered. I laughed.  
  
"Glad to hear."  
  
"I love you." Lying there with my arms around Ginny, I thought about the words that had just come out of my girlfriend's mouth. And I didn't say them back.  
  
(A/N: Good, it's over. Sorry! My wonderful muse, Todd, happens to adore G/H. That's one thing we don't agree on! On with the chapter.)  
  
*  
  
It was a week later, and Ginny was still mad at me. We weren't offically broken up. But we hadn't made up, either. I found I didn't miss Ginny. Probably because Ginny had made a huge deal out of my lack of words. Just because I hadn't told her I'd loved her, she was ignoring me. I decided to mention it to Hermione.  
  
"Hey Hermione," I said sitting across from her at a table in the Gryffindor common room. She was reading a book. She grunted her greetings and continued reading. Ron was talking with Seamus and Dean a couple tables away. They were laughing and shouting. Hermione didn't take any notice.  
  
"Er... can I ask you something, Hermione?" Her brown head rose as she tore her eyes away from her book.  
  
"Shoot," she said and locked her eyes on mine.  
  
"Has Ginny mentioned any kind of fight to you?" I asked, not wasting any time.  
  
"Yeah," Hermione replied, averting her eyes and picking up her feather quill. She wrote something down on her parchment.  
  
"Did she say why she was mad?" I inquired.  
  
"Yeah," she said again.  
  
"Hermione, you have a much bigger vocabulary than the word yes." I was a bit annoyed. "Why is she mad at me?" I demanded.  
  
"Well Harry..." she started.  
  
"I know there's some sort of policy about girls keeping secrets between them, but I'm desperate. She just storms out on me. I don't get it."  
  
"There's no such policy. I'll tell you why she's mad. Because she told you she loves you and you didn't say anything back." She began writing again.  
  
"What is with you women? You can never come out and say exactly what you want to say. You have to be all secrective about it. I'm seventeen. Is it so wrong I don't want to tell her I love her. I don't know if I love her!" I said and Hermione looked at me.  
  
"Well then why are you with her?"  
  
"Because I like her. Or I think I do. I enjoy her company. There. She's fun to be around. But I'm not ready to make love declerations!" I said and realized someone else had used that phrase with me. I couldn't remember who.  
  
"I understand. But she's angry that you're with her, and you can't love her. She was so mad she hexed Draco today," Hermione said, a smirk on her face. Malfoy! That was who! He was the one who'd used the phrase 'love declerations'. Why had I used it? I put the question out my mind.  
  
"Where's Ginny?"  
  
"No," Hermione said quickly, "don't go looking for her. Wait a few more days and then explain everything to her. She's still angry at you. Let her cool off." Sometimes Hermione was so intelligent it intimidated me. This time it didn't. I just gave her a quick hug, muttered my thanks and went to join Dean, Seamus and Ron.  
  
*  
  
"Ginny!" I shouted, exactly four days later. I figured she had had time to cool off, "can I talk to you for a moment?" I knocked someone over as I ran by and shouted an apology over my shoulder as I ran to catch up with my girlfriend. I hoped she'd still be mine after this conversation.  
  
"What is it Harry?" she asked, tucking a fiery strand of red hair behind her ear.  
  
"I wanted to apologize for not saying anything nights ago. I really like you and I love being around you, I just... I don't know if it's love. Yet. Give me time!" I stood there, hope etched on every line of my face. Ginny's look made me sigh inwardly, but then she grinned.  
  
"Let's go," she said, taking my hand and guiding me along the corridor.  
  
"Where are we going?"  
  
"Well... we've got loads of make-up sex to look forward to. If we want to get it all done, we're going to have to hurry up!" I grinned and followed after my girlfriend.  
  
  
  
That is the end. Of the fic. Just kidding. The end of the chapter. I know it's a bit shorter than the last one, but for some reason I just have more fun writing Draco's POV. The next chapter shall be more interesting. Will Draco and Harry get together? Don't get your hopes up. *Dodges the hurled tomatoes* Um.... gonna go now.  
  
Sorry again for the G/H. I really don't like it so writing it made me shudder. I don't like reading it, think how much it sucks for me to write it. If you do like reading Ginny/Harry, well then I hope you like it, even if I didn't.  
  
Review!!!! 


	3. Beautiful

Chapter 3  
  
Disclaimer: There's this really brilliant, imaginative, funny, talented, thoughtful person out there. This person wrote a book. A book about a boy named Harry Potter. This Harry Potter was a wizard, a famous one at that, and he was a very loyal, friendly boy. This imaginative person wrote about another boy named Draco Malfoy. Draco Malfoy was Harry Potter's enemy until one day when a very magical thing happened. A faithful fan, who called herself Tine, decided to write a story (not wanting any money or copywrite from this wonderful person) about the two boys and their lives. That magical person is Joanne Kathleen Rowling. She is brilliant, funny, talented and thoughtful to the true meanings of those words. She wrote the Harry Potter series and it has inspired me greatly. JK Rowling, without a doubt, owns Harry Potter.  
  
Rating: R  
  
Author's Note: Sorry about the long disclaimer. I've been thinking about what an amazing person JK Rowling is. But enough of that. On with the story. Thank for the reviews! I would like to thanks these individuals. Yami Vixen (glad you like it), Quasy, areli (staying wth one tense is something I'm not good doing. I'll try harder to fix it), Copocobana (Well... a dash of D/H so I hope you like. it. Sorry for the G/H. I agree. It really id the most disgusting thing ever), Kimmy (I don't like G/H at all!), Luwana-Fluff-Dragon (thankd for reviewing!), LadyDeath (I didn't think the G/H was that great but I'm glad to see it wasn't horrible. I'll review your story as soon as I upload this chapter!), a (Yay! You reviewed! I'm so happy. I like Draco and Hermione. Not together, but they're cool as friends. Ginny/Harry is pretty digusting. Much dislike it!), DracoDormiens (hope you like this chapter. Like Cassandra Claire's stuff, by chance?), Insane Floo Pot (Cool name. Glad you like this story. As for Harry/Ginny breaking up. Might not happen for awhile yet. *Ducks as a sharp object flies past head*), Cyber (Don't worry. Good or not, it's still a review!), havelock (here's more!).  
  
We'll be getting some of the good old Draco we know and love in this chapter. Might stick around for a bit, as well. The sarcasm and cynicism are back, Copocobana! Enjoy!  
  
There's some much anticipated Draco/Harry in this chapter. You might not like the outcome of it though, so I apologize ahead of time. It tore my heart open to do this. Hope you enjoy it anyhow!  
  
  
  
I was hugging the floor. Not by choice, that's for sure. I'd been knocked to ground by the very subject of my complex thoughts. Harry.  
  
He'd been on my mind every moment of every day. It was highly aggravating, not to mention draining. Watching the person you love, with another. Because I love Harry. So very, very much. Harry was with Ginny, and the fact that Harry was right in front of me and I still couldn't gather him in my arms and smother him with kisses, made me really angry.  
  
Harry was running to catch up to Ginny when he'd knocked me over. I got to my feet and watched the two lovers exchange words.  
  
"Ginny!" Harry shouted, "Can I talk to you a moment?"  
  
No! Don't talk to Harry, you bitch! Harry deserves better.  
  
"What is it Harry?" she asked.  
  
"I wanted to apologize for not saying anything nights ago. I really like you and I love being around you, I just... I don't know if it's love. Yet. Give me time!" Harry pleaded.  
  
No! Reject him so he can come to me and I can comfort him. For a moment I thought my request had been fulfilled (the look on Ginny's face) but a second later, Ginny grinned, took Harry by the hand and began to walk away. I followed after quietly.  
  
"Where are we going?"  
  
"Well... we've got loads of make-up sex to look forward to. If we want to get it all done, we're going to have to hurry up!" she said. I reared back, turned on my heel and fled the corridor as fast as I could. I burst out of the school onto the front steps and hurtled down to the lake. I collapsed beside it. Then I let out a hopeless cry of rage, saddness and utter hope. Strange, there was no hope left in me and I still went on hoping. Maybe one day, one glorious day, Ginny and Harry would break up. Oh how I hoped!  
  
I lay back on the grass and stared up at the cerulean sky, clustered with white puffs of cloud. I groaned when one seemed to take the shape of a lightning bolt. I was just drifting off when someone plopped themself beside me very loudly and said: "Don't you just hate clouds. They always take the shape of horrible things." I cracked one eye open to find Ron lying there next to me.  
  
I've had a lot of shocks in my life, but never one that big. Seeing Ron right next to me, speaking of the one thing I was thinking about, made me about ready to scream in terror and punch Ron, before running away. I didn't do that, obviously.  
  
"Hey..." I greeted slowly, still rather surprised.  
  
"Hermione says you're fun to hang around. She's spending the day with her roommates and she told me to come find you. I saw you running toward the lake and thought that now was as good a time as any to get to know you better. My two best friends seem to think you're not half bad. But there you are. Insane."  
  
I stared at him. Was it possible for one person to say so many words without stalling? Yes. Hermione does that. Fits that the two of them would be dating.  
  
"Er -"  
  
"Sorry. When I'm nervous, I babble. So what is it with your sudden interest in the three of us?" I cocked my head to the side to face him. I shrugged.  
  
"I enjoy talking to Hermione, 'cause she's smart. Harry understands me 'cause he's been through a lot of the stuff I have."  
  
"Ah. I see. Tell me, what does Hermione say about me?" Ron asked. I smirked.  
  
"Not a lot," I drawled and Ron laughed. At least he understood I was joking when I said things like that. Everyone else took them so seriously.  
  
"Here I was thinking I was so very important to Hermione," Ron said.  
  
"You are," I said shortly. Ron's eyes went wide. "She really likes you. I probably shouldn't say anything, but when you two took that kissing break, she wouldn't stop talking about you. Seemed if she couldn't get her hands on you, she'd talk about getting her hands on you instead." Ron laughed again.  
  
"You should talk to Harry about that," he said and I frowned, "what?"  
  
"Nothing. I'm guessing you did the same to him?"  
  
"Give the boy a million galleons," Ron said in a very monotonous voice. I was surprised to hear myself laugh. "So what about you? Any love interests? Probably none of my business, but I'm curious."  
  
"Everyone is. Well there's a Ravenclaw."  
  
"Cho?" Ron asked right away. I stared at him, mouth agape.  
  
"Er..." I began, "not my type."  
  
"Prefer blondes?" he asked, eyes flicking to my own locks of hair.  
  
"No, I love black hair. Just... she's.... too plain for me. I like mine complex."  
  
"Something we have in common," said Ron, smiling.  
  
"Yeah. So.... what's new with the Weasley clan?" I inquired.  
  
"Bill's getting married next summer to this chick he met in Egypt. Her name is Ritzy! I don't like her, but there you are. Charlie's got a girlfriend. Carol. I love her. Reminds me so much of Hermione, it's scary. Percy and Penelope are on their honeymoon. They're coming home soon. It's supposed a trip 'round the world and it was going to last a whole year, but Penelope found out she's pregnant. Eww. I'm going to be an uncle. Uncle Ron (A/N: I have an Uncle Ron! Not that you care) taking care of nephew Percy Jr. *So* would not be surprised," Ron said when I looked horrified, "Fred and George are probably the most successful. They've opened this great shop in France. Met French twins! Can you believe it! Kind of scary. George said in his most recent letter that he's thinking of dumping his half and going out with this woman who keeps coming by the shop to talk to him. They learned French and wrote me letters that I didn't understand."  
  
"Percy Junior!" I cried in detest, "that's a horrible name!" Ron laughed.  
  
"Yeah I know. Says he's also considering Pheobe, Lydia, and Elcy. I think Lydia and Elcy are rather gothic names, don't you?"  
  
"Lydia, but not Elcy. My grandmother's name was Elcy. So not gothic!" I was getting very used to Ron's laugh by now.  
  
"So how's your wand-toating family?" the red head asked in nothing else but a curious tone.  
  
"Well. Father and Mother are visiting Brazil on "business". I think they're hiding. That's it, really."  
  
"That's all. Well, tell me about yourself then, if there's nothing else about your family," Ron said, ripping a handful of grass out of the ground and throwing it a few feet away.  
  
"Okay. I want to graduate, become Minister of Magic, I want to marry someone really honest and kind. Then I want to adopt a Canadian (A/N: Go Canada!) baby girl and name her Joanne. Not sure why. Just want to."  
  
"Interesting. I want to graduate, become an auror, marry Hermione, have a girl named Jenny and a boy named Pierre. Hermione hates Pierre, though. Wants Ricky. As long as I get Jenny!" I laughed.  
  
"An auror?"  
  
"Yes, ever since Barty Crouch Jr. came and mentioned being an auror, I've been obsessed. Dad thinks I'm mad and that I'm going to get myself killed but he's just being the protective father he has to be."  
  
"How is your dad?"  
  
"He got a raise. Ginny and I got real dress robes, not ones from a second hand shop. Ginny's are light blue, mine are black, I think. Change colour. Mum's cool. Pulling her hair out. She knows I'm leaving this year and then Ginny next year. She says she's going to miss the two of us terribly."  
  
"And she probably will," I said and Ron nodded his consent. We lay there in silence for about five minutes. Those five minutes were amazing. It gave me time to reflect upon everything. I knew Ron was my friend. And we didn't even have to say it. We just knew.  
  
*  
  
We were in Potions. Harry was my partner. He came over and plopped himself in the seat next to me and smiled.  
  
"So... I don't know how to do this potion, I'll need lots of help." He brushed his hair out of his eyes and it was all I could do to not run my hands through it.  
  
"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing," I said. We set to work. Halfway through the lesson (during which I blatantly let my hand brush against his every so often) I saw he wasn't stirring properly. So I put my hand on his and and helped him stir the potion properly.  
  
"Remember. In a smooth, rythmical pattern. It should feel very relaxed." Harry wasn't looking at the potion or our hands. He was looking right into my eyes. After a moment, the spoon was swallowed up into the potion. Suddenly, we couldn't seem to get closer to each other. His hands were around my neck. My hands were sifting through his hair, exploring the soft sensation of it against my bare skin. His mouth tasted just like I imagined it would. A mix of pepper and strawberry. His scent was intoxicating. I couldn't breathe but it didn't matter. I just kept on kissing him.... urgently, desperately.  
  
I woke with a start, gasping and moaning. It was the feeling of slow, sad reality creeping back into my mind, body and soul. I was rather terrified. The dream had been so real. I'd actually thought I was kissing Harry, touching Harry, loving Harry. I realized that that wasn't reality at all. Harry had a girlfriend so he wasn't attracted to men, let alone myself.  
  
I was so scared I started crying. Not loud, blubbering tears. Just little helpless tears that no one could hear. My hands felt cold and my lips... they were empty. I wanted Harry so badly, I would do anything to get him.  
  
Anything. I thought about it, and I started to realize just what 'anything' was. I would do everything in my power to break up Harry and Ginny. And I knew I wouldn't even feel bad about it. The trouble was doing it without letting anyone know. I hopped out of bed and grabbed a roll of parchment and a quill. Then I sat down to think up ideas. After an hour, I had come up with plenty. I read the first idea off the page and grinned.  
  
Lend "Life in the Fancy" to Harry in front of Ginny.  
  
It was simple. I couldn't wait. Here was some of the old Draco coming back. It felt great!  
  
*  
  
"Potter!" I shouted down the corridor. Harry and his girlfriend stopped and turned to face me. It was a week after I'd started Operation Break Up. I hadn't been able to find "Life in the Fancy" until halway through the week, and then I hadn't found Harry and Ginny alone together. It was Friday, and there were two hours before supper. Operation Break Up was about to begin.  
  
"Yes Malfoy?"  
  
"I finished my book, so you can borrow it now, if you'd like..." I replied, holding it out for him. Ginny grabbed it from my outstretched hand and peered at it.  
  
"What's it about?" she asked curiously.  
  
"Oh, nothing -" Harry started to say but I interrupted him.  
  
"The trials and tribulations of Jake and Doug, two wizards madly in love." Ginny ganced at me, then fixed her stare on Harry.  
  
"Why are you reading this?" she inquired.  
  
"He really enjoys this kind of stuff," I said and Harry glared at me. (It hurt but I could forget about it momentarily).  
  
"Malfoy! What are you talking about! I do not enjoy this stuff. I never asked for this book," Hary denied. I gave him a confused look.  
  
"But you said you did. When we were having that conversation down that corridor. I asked if you wanted to borrow the book and you said -"  
  
"I said absolutely not, Malfoy. Now get lost!" he said hastily. I nodded.  
  
"All right. But just in case you change your mind, here it is anyway," I said, placing it among the books he was holding in his arms already, "cheers!" I turned and stalked off, smiling to myself. Phase one of Operation Break Up had begun.  
  
*  
  
"Professor..." I began, stepping up to the Potion Master's desk, "I really look up to you. Could you help me?"  
  
"Depends on what you need help on, Mr Malfoy," Professor Snape answered. I nodded.  
  
"See there's this person I kind of fancy. But..." I said, for there was no point in getting Snape worked up if he wasn't comfortable with tha kind of stuff, "but she's sort of already dating someone. I really like her, Professor. I think I love her. How could I possibly get her boyfriend and her to break-up?"  
  
"I see. I shouldn't be telling you this, but seeing as you're my favourite pupil..." he motioned for me to sit down and continued, "jealousy, Mr Malfoy, is a very terrible evil. It corrupts one's mind and causes them to believe irrational things. If you can get this boyfriend of hers really jealous.... perhaps he'll break up with her." I nodded and wrote it down.  
  
"Thank you, sir," I said and left the office. Snape can be really kind if he likes you, but he still creeps me out sometimes.  
  
As I made my way back toward my private chambers given to me by my Head Boy privelages, I thought. Was I doing the right thing? Would this actually work? I truly hoped so.  
  
As I stepped into the Entrance Hall, I was met by the sight of my two *favourite* people snogging each other's brains out. I yelped and they stopped. Harry looked guilty, while Ginny looked irritated I'd ended their make out session. I shuddered and forced a smile on my face.  
  
"Hello. What do you think of the book?" I asked.  
  
"I haven't started it yet," he said but his face told me otherwise. I nodded at him, with one of those knowing looks on my visage. Harry blushed crimson and I grinned.  
  
"I particularly enjoyed the reunion scene with Jake and Doug. I think you will too," I said, smiled again and walked past him, brushing his crotch as I went.  
  
I brushed his crotch! I actually brushed his crotch! It was great! Er... as far as touching crotches goes. Right?  
  
So I had to deal with Harry looking at me differently during Potions, but it disappeared in Care of Magical Creatures, which was certainly eventful.  
  
"Stroke the centaur softly.... with a rhythmical pattern... softly and deftly... make sure you're not hurting it, Pansy," Hagrid was saying. Everyone in the class had their own centaur, and I had... Firenze! I was actually really happy about it.  
  
"Have you talked to Harry?" he asked me after a short silence.  
  
"We're friends," I replied.  
  
"Nothing more?"  
  
"No, he's dating someone else."  
  
"That's a shame. Well if you're meant to be, then you'll get together no matter the circumstances."  
  
"I'm not sure I can wait, Firenze," I replied, placing a hand on his neck, "I like him too much to see him with someone else. It's tearing me up inside."  
  
"I understand how painful it must be for you," he comforted.  
  
"No you don't, " I said flatly, "I will do anything to get Harry. That's what I've decided. If that means I have to hurt him in the process, so be it." Firenze whipped around and stared at me.  
  
"You are thinking only of yourself," he spat, "stop being so selfish!"  
  
"I am not being selfish. I'm angry. Why can't I have the one person I want?" I demanded. He had a cold look in his eyes that made me shiver.  
  
"You are being selfish, " he said, lowering his voice, "you are not thinking of Harry. This friend of his may be really special to him."  
  
"But she's not! He told me he doesn't love her!" I said desperately, feeling on the verge of tears. Tears of frustration.  
  
"Well.... until he can realize that he can't be with her because of that, you're stuck where you are."  
  
"Yes, or I go along with my plan and split them up."  
  
"Draco. If you go along with that plan, you'll ruin what it is you've got with Harry right now. Don't do that, Draco. Trust me as I've trusted you. Do not do that to him. You will regret it." I stared at Firenze, thinking hard. Finally, I nodded slowly and Firenze's gaze softened. Then we went for a walk around the lake, where I had time to sort out my ever complicated thoughts. What if Harry never realized he couldn't be with Ginny because he didn't love her? At the end of the class, was still fretting over that question.  
  
*  
  
The four of us together for the first time since we'd become friends. Ron, Harry, Hermione and I sat in the library, surrounded by books.  
  
"The NEWTS aren't too far away."  
  
"They're in June, it's November," Ron pointed out.  
  
"Yes, we'll get a head start. You think it's a good idea, don't you Draco?" Hermione asked, eyes travelling to me.  
  
"Huh? Oh... yeah." I'd been drifting off into my thoughts lately.  
  
"If you don't want to be here, you don't have to be," Hermione said. I knew she was offended.  
  
"Hermione, I was just thinking. Of course I want to be here. I'm sorry." Hermione smiled and nodded.  
  
"Well, might as well get going. Dinner is in ten minutes. Let's go," Hermione said and we all stood up. As we got into the corridor, Ron and Hermione grew interested in each other and it gave me a chance to put my second plan into action. It didn't work out.  
  
"Harry. Can I talk to you a second?"  
  
"Sure Malfoy, what is it?" he asked. My surname hung in the air unpleasantly.  
  
"Well," I said, sighing, "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me on Saturday. I want to go to Hogsmeade and I was thinking you'd like to join me."  
  
"I would, but I'm meeting Ginny there," Harry said and his eyes seemed to apologize for him. It wasn't enough.  
  
"Harry," I said letting out a short laugh, "you can't keep this up. Staying with Ginny. I know you don't love her." Harry gave me a strange look and there was a long silence where I wished I could grab my words out of the air and take them back.  
  
"What gives you that idea?"  
  
"You told me."  
  
"Right," Harry remembered.  
  
"You don't have to continue going around with her," I tried again.  
  
"Want saome gum?" Harry was pointing to a pack of gum in his hands. I shook my head. He put it away and we walked on some more. "And yes I do," he said.  
  
"No you don't."  
  
"You don't quite get it, Malfoy. Ginny loves *me*. If I break up with her I'll be hurting her. I don't liked hurting people, Draco. I'm going to ask her to marry me sometime this year." I gaped at him. This was impossible. "I know we're both young, but I think we're ready. She loves me and -"  
  
"You don't love her. You can't do that, Harry."  
  
"You just said my first name. You've never done that before."  
  
"Yes I have, you just never noticed before now," I said with a trace of regret in my voice, "You can't lie to yourself. It wouldn't be fair to you or Ginny."  
  
"Okay, so what? I break up with Ginny and she gets hurt. Wow. I'll be the Weasley brothers' target for years."  
  
"Better she find out now, than later. If she finds out you've lead her on, she'll be furious."  
  
"That's why I'm going to tell her I love her," Harry said.  
  
"That's a lie!" I shouted loudly.  
  
"Be that as it may, it's for the benefit of someone else. Malfoy, I'm not going to hurt anyone here. I refuse to. We'll both be fine. Stop worrying about it." Then he turned and actually walked away.  
  
The problem was he was hurting me so badly right then, it was like my heart was being ripped out of my chest and stomped on furiously by he himself. So he was hurting someone. Me. I doubted whether he'd ever stop hurting me. And now it was too late. I'd waited too long. I had to no one to blame but myself.  
  
  
  
That was short. I couldn't think of anything else to put after that. So the next chapter will be nice and long.  
  
I didn't want that to happen, my muse Todd made me write it. I'm so sorry! To make up for it, there will be more Draco/Harry in the next chapter but you probably won't like it then either. Hell, you'll hate it. I apologize before I put the chapter up because I know you're all going to hurl tomatoes and sharp objects at me when you read it. So... Sorry!  
  
But what did you think? Other than the fact that you hated it with a passion. Let me know. I need feedback, whether negative or positive. 8- )  
  
Tine 


	4. A Moment Like This

Chapter 4  
  
Disclaimer: Guess what! I've been lying this whole time. I really am JK Rowling. I actually wrote Harry Potter. There's a real life Draco Malfoy! And he's all mine. All right.... I'm not JK Rowling.... I don't own this... there is no Draco Malfoy..... and he's not mine. I think I'm going to cry.  
  
Rating: R  
  
Author's Note: Reviews! Every time I get one, I get this feeling of indescribable bliss. I'd like to thank the following people. Very long, bear with me!  
  
LadyDeath (Want to start a club. We'll all get together and kill Ginny!), Copocobana (Don't you love Draco? I feel really bad hurting him all the time), Kimmy (Well we can't have Harry and Ginny together), Cyber, Emi (How I hope JK Rowling will make Draco friends with them in the book. I KNOW he'll pull through), Jubilee (I hate Ginny, too. I'd like to shave off her hair and eyebrows in the middle of the night, then put shving cream all over her bald little head. Right. She will DEFINITELY get in the way of Harry and Draco. Well, Draco's too nice to hurt Harry in the process. He wouldn't have the heart to do it. Oh, much embarassment in the next chapter. This chapter is for you, then. Lots of Life in the Fancy. Hope you enjoy it!), a (Yes I know, I was very suprised with how that chapter turned out. I wasn't planning on having him try to marry Ginny. Just sort of turned out that way, I guess. Hurry the hell up with your fic, dammit! It's so good!), GalesMystique710 (Well, plenty of Draco/Harry in this chapter. Hope you like it!), WitchGirl (Still my faithful reviewer. Wrote me two reviews for chapter one. All the better for my story! 8-) I'll be frank. The first fic I ever found on this site was a Remus/Sirius fic and it scared me off for a couple days. Then I came back and after reading a couple more slash fics, I began to become steadily addicted to them. Then I found an amazing Draco/Harry fic and I knew that was my epiphany. To this day, I am all for Draco/Harry and any other m/m or f/f relationships! Glad to hear I've changed your mind!), Empress Mause, Katie of Gryffindor (Thanks for the reviews! *Blushing* Thanks. Glad to hear it. Yes, I think Draco and the trio are meant to be friends. Don't worry, it kills me as much as it kills you to see them together, if not more. My feelings on Harry/Ginny are mutual. I despise it. Harry and Draco will get together. I promise you. Glad you liked the dream. I had fun writing it!) Thank you kindly Empress Mause, Space Dementia and Emi for adding me to their favourites lists! You rock!  
  
There will be Draco/Harry in this chapter!!!!!!! Let's all stand up and cheer! Yay! There's a catch. You might be extremely pissed at me for the outcome. So, please, don't kill the author. She needs to continue writing this and.... if you kill her she won't be able to do that. Why the hell am I referring to myself in the third person? Sorry for the very, very little Ginny/Harry. You'll barely notice it.  
  
By the way, Christmas is in five days! I have not bought one present for anyone. I must do my Christmas shopping. But that is not important. In this chapter (extra long, because it's Christmas and my gift to you) Draco and Harry are going to be celebrating Chistmas as well. Just pretend it's December, about a month after that scene where Harry told Draco he's marrying Ginny. (Little twit!) I might be writing a one-shot Draco/Harry fic that will be uploaded ON Christmas, so be sure to check that out. Now read!  
  
  
  
"God damn it!" I cringed as Ron's loud words met my ears. I saw Hermione do the same. We'd just left Potions. Ron was angry because Snape had assigned us three rolls of parchment for homework. "I'll never have time to do this homework," he said. He kicked a door, which slammed shut.  
  
"Ron Weasley!" Hermione shrieked and I cringed again, "Watch your mouth!"  
  
"Sorry," Ron muttered, though he still looked really peeved.  
  
"You're right, though," Hermione said after a minute of uncomfortable silence, "this is too much, even for Snape. Wonder what's bothering him."  
  
"We could ask Malfoy," I said. The minute I said this, I wondered why I had. Why Malfoy, of all people? Because he's close to Snape, of course.  
  
"We could."  
  
"Except I think he's still mad at me," I admitted. Hermione shot me a long look.  
  
"What happened?" she asked.  
  
"He got mad at me when I told him I want to marry Ginny." My best friends stopped so abruptly, Seamus Finnigan, walking behind us, toppled to the floor.  
  
"Thanks a lot," he muttered, got up and continued on.  
  
"You want to marry my sister?" Ron asked, very quietly.  
  
"Yes I do," I replied. If only it wasn't a lie.  
  
"Oh!" Hermione said, catching our attention, "Gosh... I have to meet Draco. Helping him with his Transfiguration. I'll be at dinner! Bye!" She took off. Ron waited until she was around the corner.  
  
"You're asking my sister to marry you!?" he demanded.  
  
"Yes," I replied. Ron hit me hard on the back.  
  
"All right, brother-in-law," he said, "when are you springing the news on her?"  
  
"I don't know yet. We should work a bit on our relationship. Then I'll ask her."  
  
"Of course," he said, "I'm the best man."  
  
"Sure. Want to start on our homework."  
  
"I guess. Let's go."  
  
*  
  
[Jake placed a short, teasing kiss on Doug's forehead. Doug shuddered and pulled Jake's mouth down to meet his. Jake's tongue intertwined with his lover's. Doug massaged the soft, silky skin of Jake's tongue. It wasn't long before Jake's hand reached down Doug's pants and grabbed his cock. (A/N: I hate that word, but I couldn't think of a better one). Doug gasped and arched his back to let the hand stroke up and down, up and down.....]  
  
I gulped and looked up. I could feel my own erection through the tight material of my jeans. I was reading 'Life in the Fancy' for the second time, in Divination class. The class was working on theory, which gave me plenty of time to read.  
  
Malfoy certainly had wonderful taste in books. 'Life in the Fancy' was so good I had to read it again. Ginny thought I was really weird but it didn't matter. It was a thrilling ride. Reading about Jake and Doug. I particlularly liked Jake. He was always confused about him and Doug being together, but he was the one to try new things in their relationship. It was really very interesting.  
  
I returned to my book.  
  
[After many minutes of this erotic pleasure, Jake and Doug went out to the balcony to talk. They both lit their cigarettes and took a hall simultaneously. Jake sat down on the cold cement of the balcony and Doug sat in a deck chair.  
  
"Doug.... I really love you," came Jake's smooth, proper voice. Doug glanced up at his lover and smiled.  
  
"I love you, too. You know I do. Hey that rhymes!" he said a moment later. Jake smirked, crossing his legs in one smooth action. Everything about Jake was smooth, Doug noted. He seemed to function in an almost inhuman way. He glided rather than walked, he flew rather than ran, he whispered rather than talked and he touched rather than spoke. Doug loved all of it.  
  
Jake brought the du Maurier cigarette to his lips. (A/N: My parents smoke and there's a pack sitting in front of me, otherwise I wouldn't have thought of a brand name). He drew in the dangerous chemicals and addictive nicotine, only to cough violently, then crush the barely started smoke with the heel of his foot. "That shit is horrible." When he swore, it sounded out of this world.  
  
He looked up to find Doug's eyes studying him.  
  
"Yes honey?" he said sweetly. Doug blushed.  
  
"Just watching you. Your every move," he added softly. Jake got to his feet and slipped his legs around Doug's waist. He was sitting right in his Doug's lap. He began placing hungry, rough kisses on the warm mouth in front of him...]  
  
I stopped as the bell clanged loudly throughout my ears. I closed the book and got to my feet. Ron was rubbing his eyes vigrously, the results of one extremely boring lesson. He smiled and pulled a hand through his ginger hair. Then got to his feet as well.  
  
"How was the class?" he asked.  
  
"I wouldn't know. I wasn't paying attention," I replied.  
  
"Right, let's not mention my lack of interest in class to or around Hermione. I don't want her to think I'm not trying."  
  
"You're not."  
  
"Well yeah but this way she doesn't have proof."  
  
"You just don't want her to stop speaking to you."  
  
"That too." He grinned. We set off to find Hermione and Draco. We found them laughing hysterically in the entrance hall.  
  
"What's so funny?" Ron asked.  
  
"Draco," Hermione gasped out, laughing so hard she was lying on the ground on her back. The sight of Draco, reduced to a seven year old seemingly by laughter, was enough to make me laugh a little. Draco was actually rolling on the floor with laughter. Hermione and Draco's laughter bounced around the walls and then meshed together in what sounded like odd music. It was kind of cool. They finally stopped after about five minutes.  
  
"What was so funny?" Ron asked again.  
  
"Oh.... Draco was showing me this dance move he made up a couple days ago and he fell over," Hermione said, going into another fit of giggles, "guess you had to be there." Ron and I shared a glance and then helped Hermione and Draco to their feet.  
  
The thing was, Ron went for Hermione and I was stuck with Draco. I held my hand out, and the minute Draco's skin touched my skin, I felt this inexplicable tingling sensation. It was enough to make me almost drop Draco. I managed to get him to his feet before I wrenched my hand from his grasp. The tingling didn't hurt, but it scared me.  
  
"So...." I said, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "Let's go eat." My friends nodded and we made our way to the Great Hall.  
  
"Hey! Life in the Fancy! How far are you?" Draco asked me suddenly.  
  
"Oh..." I began, and forgetting where I was, who I was, I began squealing like a freaking girl, "I'm at the most adorable part ever! It's when they just had sex, and now they're on the balcony."  
  
"Oh my God!" Draco said, "I love that part. So you haven't got to the reunion scene. Damn, I love that scene."  
  
"No, no. I got there. That's my favourite scene as well! I'm reading this for the second time."  
  
"Wasn't the ending just amazing!?" Draco said.  
  
"Yes!" I said, enthusiastically.  
  
"Crazy cat!" we both shouted at the same time. It was a line from the last scene in Life in the Fancy. That was when I realized how weird I was acting. Hermione and Ron were both watching the exchange with amusement, and there were a couple people looking at us like we were freaks.  
  
"What the hell just happened?" I demanded, more to myelf than to anyone in particular.  
  
"That was cute, Harry," Hermione said and Ron glared at her.  
  
"Dammit! Why is everyone cuter than me?" Ron demanded.  
  
"Because you're ugly," Hermione replied and everyone except Ron burst out laughing, "I'm kidding, honey...." she said after we'd calmed down a little. Draco and I looked at each other and cracked up again.  
  
"What's so funny?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Jake, in the book, calls Doug honey," Draco explained. A huge burst of laughter erupted from my throat that made everyone else snicker.  
  
"Let's go eat in the kitchens. That way we can eat with Draco and not start some sort of feud between Gryffindor and Slytherin," I was saying, although I didn't realize it until all three of my friends turned at looked at me funny.  
  
"Okay," Draco said happily. I smiled at him and we started walking again, "You just called me Draco." I thought about it and realized I had.  
  
"I did, didn't I?" I said, "Well it sounds better than Malfoy anyway." Draco grinned.  
  
"You want to know what bugs me about Life in The Fancy?" I asked. Ron and Hermione started talking amongst themselves.  
  
"That they're always having sex?" Draco offered.  
  
"No, you crazy? I love that!" I said, "No I don't like that Jake had to change for Doug."  
  
"He didn't."  
  
"Yes he did. Remember how at the beginning of the book it says he never smoked or drank. Well when he meets Doug, he takes up smoking and drinking. I don't like that. It seems like he's changing for Doug." The words came tumbling from my mouth. I don't know what was wrong with me today.  
  
"Yes but Doug changed for Jake. So it all balances out," Draco said.  
  
"No he didn't."  
  
"Yes he did. Before Doug met Jake, he was one of those, 'Hey what's up, let's fuck, get lost, don't call me kind of guys' ". I was staring at Draco's mouth during all of this. Because Draco reminded me a bit of Jake. When he swore, it was out of this world! "Then he settled on Jake. You can tell that it was difficult to step out of his routine. Besides, it's important to change for the people you love. That's what I think anyway." I caught the look on Hermione's face over Draco's shoulder. She looked kind of sad.  
  
"What's wrong, Hermione?"  
  
"Oh.... nothing, we're here," she said and the four of us went in for dinner. Weeks later, when I looked back, I would realize how important that moment was.  
  
*  
  
(A/N: I wouldn't dare end it here).  
  
"Watch out!" Ron yelled. Something hit me in the head. I looked at it on the ground and saw it was a roll of streamer paper. Hermione, Ron, Draco and I were devoting time to decorating the Great Hall for the last night Hogwarts would eat together for the holidays.  
  
"Where'd that come from?" I asked.  
  
"I threw it," Ron answered. I paused, giving it time to sink in.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Oh come on Harry, tis the season to be hit in the head with Christmas decorations." I couldn't help but smile.  
  
"Would you two shut up and blow up those balloons!" Hermione shouted. She and Draco were pinning up a banner that said 'Happy Christmas' on it.  
  
"You shut up, you're making it wobble," Draco said, glaring furiously at her. She'd insisted we do it the muggle way. No one really knew why.  
  
"Fuck this," Draco said (in that out of this world voice) and quickly pulled out his wand, muttering a spell. The banner attached itself to the wall and the balloons hung in the air where those floating candles should have been. (A/N: You know the ones. In the movie Harry Potter you can see the strings holding them up).  
  
"Draco!" Hermione screameed angrily.  
  
"Hermione!" he screamed in exactly the same voice.  
  
"You used magic!" she shouted.  
  
"You used magic!" Draco echoed.  
  
"That's annoying."  
  
"That's annoying."  
  
"Stop it!"  
  
"Stop it!"  
  
"Argh! You annoying git!"  
  
"Argh! You annoying git!"  
  
"SHUT UP!" she screamed, so loud I accidentally popped the balloon I was tying.  
  
"Good God, woman. Strong vocal cords, you've got!" Draco said. Ron and I burst into hysterical laughter. We were hugging each other, trying not to fall over.  
  
"Fuck you!" she said and Ron and I stopped so abruptly, we choked. Draco looked quite surprised.  
  
"Hermione," Ron said in an appreciative tone. Hermione smirked.  
  
"Sorry," she muttered and sat down, "Think I need a break."  
  
"Yes I think you do," Draco said and we all looked at him, "Not helping, am I?"  
  
"So.... think the school will even notice the decorations?" I asked, after a minute of Ron making little flatulent noises with his mouth.  
  
"They better had," Hermione said dangerously. All three of us men took a step back. Suddenly, without warning, Ginny burst into the hall and ran into my arms.  
  
"Harry!" she cried, "Harry! I tried to stop him. He wouldn't leave me alone." There was silence.  
  
"Tried to strop who? Who wouldn't leave you alone?"  
  
"Some Slytherin. He wouldn't stop."  
  
"Stop what?" I demanded. I was worried now. I pushed her to arms length, so I could see her face. There were tears streaming down her face.  
  
"Harry, he kept kissing me and I told him to stop and he wouldn't." I finally understood.  
  
"What did he look like?" I asked.  
  
"Curly blonde hair, creepy black eyes, tall, he was a Slytherin, that's all I can remember," she said.  
  
"That's enough," Draco said, "It was Preston McDougal. Always trying to get with girls. Didn't mean any harm. Well he did, but he was probably very drunk to hit on you." His tone seemed a little "Who would want to hit on Ginny?"  
  
"I mean that you're a Gryffindor and he's a Slytherin," Draco said, realizing he hadn't sounded very nice. Ginny nodded. She'd stopped crying. I pulled her closer and kissed her.  
  
She kissed me back, her tongue trailing along my bottom lip, and I opened my mouth wider to admit her tongue. I stroked it, thinking I'd try out some of the stuff Doug and Jake did in 'Life in the Fancy'.  
  
"Well!" Hermione said loudly, interrupting our kiss, "We should continue decorating. Let's just use our freaking wands this time. We've got about ten minutes before the school comes to dinner." She walked over to Draco and hugged him, which was weird, and muttered a spell. It made some Christmas music filter through the room. Draco walked over to the Christmas tree and began showing off his magic talent by muttering a spell to make the tree turn different colours. Ron and I continued blowing up balloons. Ron said it was practice which made me laugh hysterically for a couple minutes. Ginny was looking at all the things we'd done so far.  
  
"Okay!" Hermione said ten minutes later, "Let's sit down." We went and sat down at the Gryffindor table, Draco as well, and waited. Suddenly the doors opened and people began piling into the hall. Some cheered when they saw what it looked like, some stopped in their tracks. It was quite interesting to watch.  
  
Not long after, everyone was seated and the teachers were looking impressed. Dumbledore stood up.  
  
"I believe Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy should get full credit for making this happen! Twenty points to all of you." We looked at each other and nodded our heads in appreciation. "Thank you very much."  
  
Dinner was great. I ate lots of food and then I drank a lot of the bottle of champaign we'd brought in celebration. I was rather tipsy throughout dinner. I kept telling everyone I loved them. But if I was bad, Ron was worse. He was smacking everyone, saying they were bad people. It was pretty funny.  
  
I decided I wanted to talk to Draco for some reason. There was something important I had to ask him about the relationship between Ginny and I. I poked Draco and he looked up at me.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Can we talk in private for a minute?" I asked. Was it my imagination or did Draco look a little happy. It was. He shrugged and stood up. I did as well and we left the hall together. We entered an empty classroom. For some reason I felt uncomfortable sitting so I lead him to the centre of the room and smiled at him.  
  
"Hi," Draco said in a quiet voice.  
  
"Hello. Did you see Pansy in Potions today? It was a riot! Was that your work?" I asked.  
  
"Yeah," Draco said, "It might have been due to the fact that she insulted Hermione."  
  
"You know," I realized, "You became our friend two months ago. You're such a nice person. I can't believe I never noticed it before."  
  
"Well I wasn't very nice to you three, and I insulted you all the time, plus -" Draco babbled.  
  
"Shh!" I interrupted and I guess the alcohol got to me. Because I put my index finger on his lips, silencing him. I stared into those silver eyes. They were fixed on mine. There was high amount of passion between us.  
  
Draco's tongue shot out and he licked my finger. He actually licked my finger! It was such an intimate moment. But I had a girlfriend. I wasn't supposed to be enjoying a boy's mouth exploring mine. Because that's what was happening. Draco was kissing me fiercely, passionately, urgently, as though he was putting all his feelings into that kiss. And if that wasn;t bad, well, I was kidding him back! Just as fiercely and passionately. Draco's hands flew to my neck and he moaned softly. My hands went automatically to his hair. It was as soft as I thought it would be.  
  
"Oh Harry," Draco moaned, "Oh God, Harry!" He pulled me into another fiery kiss. I could feel my erection through my pants.  
  
What!? I was kissing Draco Malfoy, a guy. And I had a girlfriend! This was not a good sight!  
  
I pulled away.  
  
  
  
I am so mean. As I said before..... please don't kill me. The next chapter is in the works, should be out in a week or so. Don't forget to check out my one-shot Draco/Harry fic. It's got nothing to do with this, though. Remember that.  
  
Um... I'm not very good at writing romance so I might be a little repetitive. Not to mention extremely bad at it. So please don't tell me in your review how bad I am at it.  
  
Do tell me what you though, though! I definitely need feddback. Any typos or whatnot, I apologize for!  
  
Happy holidays!  
  
Tine 


	5. Changes

Chapter 5 (A/N: YES! Chapter 5!)  
  
Rating: R. Incessant swearing on Draco's part.  
  
Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, would I be here writing stories? Nope. I'd be busy writing Order of the Phoenix (and getting it PUBLISHED *hint*) and the other two books. And I'd drink some lemonade. I love lemonade. However, I'm not JK Rowling so I don't own it. *Sob*  
  
Author's Note: Booyah! I'm back after Christmas and am I ever happy. I got a freaking acoustic guitar for Christmas! I can't believe it! It's beautiful!  
  
So! Chapter 5! Crazy! I can't believe I'm already at chapter 5. Not that that is very far, but I'm excited because this is my first H/D and everything. Well then.... here are the responses to your lovely reviews (love all of you)! I just uploaded this chapter without the responses, so I'm re-uploading them WITH the responses. Did you understand that? Never mind. Just read.  
  
LadyDeath (Hoope you didn't die waiting for the next part 8-), Katie of Gryffindor (I love your fics. Yes, I rather enjoyed writing that kiss. My fingers just started typing it, I wasn't planning on it. Hope you like the new chapter!), Copacabana (Sorry. It was evil, wasn't it? Don't be so sure that's what Ron's going to do. Are you sure Ron likes the fact that they're getting married? His best friend and his sister? He may say he likes it, but you should know Ron well enough that he doesn't always say the things he means. 8-) We'll see. I thought him reading 'Life in the Fancy' was funny as well), Kimmy (Thanks. *Blsuhing brighter than Ron ever has* I don't think I'm that great. I don't have a very high self-esteem. 8-( Glad you liked it!), Cyber (Does Ron find out? Well not in this chapter, but maybe he will later. Yes, Harry reading slash. I kind of wrote that cuz it's what I do in Math class. I'll print out a slash fanfic and read it in class. 8-) Not as though you care, but whatever. And thanks, I tried with the romance. Not sure if it's very good. I better get.... better, cuz there's gonna be lots in this. But later on), a (I love your fic. Just had to say that! Little bit of slash at the beginning of this chapter! Hope it makes you mushy again. 'Live in the Fancy' is so much fun to write about. I quite enjoyed writing about Jake and Doug. They're adorable! You'll be happy. No Ginny/Harry.... well... not much anyway....), Sky Chief (Thanks for the review! I was really happy to get it. You used this big vocabulary. I love that! I might lock Ginny in a closet... but would you be mad if Harry was with her?), Emi (Did you make it to the end of the week? Hope so! Glad you like it so far. And thanks, I did try! Glad to hear I'm not trubbish at slash!), beautiful disaster (Like you penname! Glad you like it! Ginny - die? Well.... it would be easy to write. But it's so much more fun to have her live on and piss you and my other readers off), Mi Su (Thanks! Heh heh. Slashy goodness. Couldn't live without it! Here's more!) Right. Thanks everyone. And everyone please read a's fic 'At Borgin and Burkes'. Great, great fic!  
  
Um... I know.... I was very evil to leave you hanging like that. I wish I could say I make up for it in this chapter but, quite frankly, I don't. Um.... to anyone who read the Draco/Harry Christmas fic I wrote: I am aware it was a really bad fic. I wrote it mostly for the slash. I know it really sucked: it was the result of not enough sleep, way too much coffee, and a rushed job. If you liked it, I'm very glad. I wrote it to make up for the absense of H/D in this fic. There won't be any for the next four or five chapters of this fic. *Holds up Math textbook to shield herself from the shoes, keyboards and knives launched at her* Feel free to destory my Math book.... but please don't hurt me. I'm doing this for the benefit of this story. =P  
  
Well then, don't let me keep you waiting. Go ahead and read the next chapter. The rest of this author's note just goes on and on and doesn't really say anything. So stop now. I'm serious. If you read this last sentence, it won't tell you anything.  
  
  
  
It was perfect. Harry's lips on mine. It was like a angel was kissing me. I was drunk on Harry's taste. And he was kissing me back! My world had disappeared. All that mattered was the friction that Harry's body and mine made, pressed together. I began rocking aginst his hips and he followed the motion. I wanted so much more. That was when Harry ended the marvelous kiss.  
  
"Mon dieu," I said softly, pressing a hand to my mouth, which was tingling, "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."  
  
"What exactly *was* that?" Harry asked, an extremely shocked look on his face.  
  
"The most amazing moment of my life." I could still taste Harry on my tongue and feel his hands roaming places I didn't want anyone else to touch. It felt weird without them doing that.  
  
"You kissed me." I went silent. Ugh. Of course. He hadn't liked it. He thought I was disgusting and he hated me. Suddenly, I hated him too.  
  
"You didn't exactly fight me off," I pointed out, my voice rising with my anger.  
  
"No. Wasn't like I had much of a choice with your body pinning me to the wall!" he snapped. We were in the middle of the room, "Oh God.... I've got a girlfriend. This can't be happening. How could you kiss me?" He ran his hand frantically through his hair, making it stand up straight.  
  
"Why the hell did you ask me here if you didn't want me to kiss you?" I demanded furiously.  
  
"I wanted to talk to you, like two *normal* boys," he replied. That was going too far.  
  
"Damn you!" I shouted, "How dare you say that! Being gay doesn't make me abnormal. You've been putting me on!"  
  
"I have not -"  
  
"Oh bullshit you haven't!" I shouted and he went completely still, "Bloody hell. What did you think I was going to do if you provided me with the chance to kiss you? How could you not have realized that I like you?"  
  
"Well - I - I didn't know," Harry said, his eyes wide. I narrowed mine.  
  
"Then you're fucking blind."  
  
"You -" he started, trying to grab my hand. I pulled away.  
  
"Don't FUCKING touch me," I shouted, very loudly. I turned around, wrenched open the door, stepped into the hall and slammed it hard behind me.  
  
It was like my life was over. Essentially, it was. After months of an incredible want and obsessive love for Harry Potter, I'd been turned down by him. Life was over.  
  
I tried to walk to the bathroom with my head held high, but I was distracted. I walked blindly into the bathroom, closed the door and collapsed against it.  
  
Then I cried. Cried like I'd never cried before. They were very loud tears, but that was not important. How could I go on living? At least when I hadn't known for sure whether Harry loved me, there'd been that small amount of hope. Maybe Harry loved me back. But it was just a stupid fantasy. My life was definitely over.  
  
I thought I was alone in the bathroom. I was dead wrong.  
  
"Malfoy?" a voice asked. I looked up, and was shocked to find Colin Creevey, camera-toting little freak, standing in front of me. I stopped crying.  
  
"Creevey," I acknowledged, "Nothing to see except a crying fool."  
  
"It's okay to cry," Colin said, and he sat down next to me, "Everyone knows I'm a crybaby. I used to cry every day in my first year. No one liked me, I felt like an outcast. It eventually grew to crying every week in my second year. Everyone teased me about my crush on Harry."  
  
"You had a crush on Harry?" I asked, rather surpised.  
  
"Of course. I don't anymore. Sort of gave up. I remember crying every month in third and fourth year. Then maybe a few times a year in fifth. Now I'm back to crying every day."  
  
I stared at Colin, "Why do you cry so much?"  
  
"Because life is frustrating."  
  
"Yes, that's true. But don't you realize people know they're getting to you if you cry?" I inquired.  
  
"I can't help it. I'm a sensitive person. I cry about everything. I don't know why I'm telling you all this. You could go off and tell the Slytherins. But ever since you became friends with Harry, Hermione and Ron.... I don't know. I just feel like I can trust you." He smiled sadly. "Actually, the entire school has been changed by it. The barriers between houses have been knocked down. It's all because of you four. But enough about that. Why were you crying just now?"  
  
That entire speech rather shocked me. I hadn't talked to the Slytherins very much since making friends with the Dream Team. They mostly just ignored me since I'd become friends with Harry. Sometimes one of them would insult me of make a comment. I just walked by, usually.  
  
"Where's your camera?" I asked, ignoring his question.  
  
"The Slytherins were making fun of me because I wear it, so I'm not going to anymore." I nodded, not really knowing what to say. "Why were you crying?" he asked again. I sighed and figured I couldn't lose anything by telling him.  
  
"The great Draco Malfoy got turned down."  
  
"Oh. I gave up on crushes long ago," Colin voiced.  
  
"This wasn't a "crush". I was in love. Still am, in fact. Always will be. I'm head over heels. There's no one I love or ever will love more. But it doesn't matter. Isn't in love with me." Colin looked into my eyes when I spoke. It was something that made me feel warm inside. No one else really looked directly in my eyes when they spoke to me.  
  
"Who is it, if it's not too personal?"  
  
"It is actually." Colin nodded. "Not to be rude. But you wouldn't understand."  
  
"Of course I wouldn't," he snapped, "Look, you don't spend six years all by yourself and not learn how to understand other people's suffering. You can trust me. I won't tell anyone."  
  
"Fine, if you really want to know. I'm gay. And I love Harry. The-Boy- Who-Fucking-Lived. Oh God, I love him. I love him so, so much." I began sobbing. I've never sobbed in my life! Why start now?  
  
Colin placed a short kiss on my cheek, which stalled my tears. (It was truly unexpected). Then he began kissing my eyes and my nose and my cheeks and my forehead. (A/N: I adored that scene between Holden and Jane in 'Catcher in the Rye'). It was the most comfortable feeling in the world. He pulled away from me silently.  
  
"It's Harry's loss," he said, so silently I barely heard him. But I did. And I was touched, "Don't stop loving him, Draco. There may come a day where he'll need you more than anything. Until then, love him with all your heart."  
  
"Do you think there's such a thing as too much love? As in, I love Harry too much. I'm not sure if it's healthy. It's so emotionally draining to love someone that doesn't love you back. I think I'm going to top myself." Colin's eyes met mine.  
  
"Don't you dare! There's absolutely no point. Do you know how many times I though about killing myself? Many. I won't let you do it, Draco."  
  
"But Harry is my only reason to live. If he doesn't love me, then what's the point?" I said. It wasn't really a question I thought would be answered. Colin answered it anyway.  
  
"Because maybe one day he will." I stared at the wise Gryffindor. What he talked of sounded wonderful. Although I didn't think it possible, I appreciated his kind words.  
  
"Thanks. God, you're so intelligent. As you said to me before.... if people don't appreciate you, Colin, it's their loss." He smiled.  
  
"I agree with you, Draco. But somehow, no one else sees it as a loss. And they're the most important." I nodded. That was true. So very true.  
  
*  
  
I entered the Astronomy Tower. I actually planned to do some Astronomy. Sadly, when I reached the door, I realized there were people already occupying it. Who else but Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, soon to be Ginny Potter I would find out.  
  
I hung near the door, watching them converse.  
  
"Ginny. I really like you," Harry said. Oh, shit. Ginny nodded, "As such, I think -"  
  
"Are you breaking up with me?" Ginny interrupted. I felt spark of hope flood through my body. It had been three weeks since I'd felt one. It was kind of nice.  
  
"No!" Harry said, "I'm doing the opposite. Will you marry me?" He held out a ring for Ginny. I smacked a hand over my mouth to keep myself from screaming. There was silence. Then a response, quieter than a mouse.  
  
"Yes," she whispered. I sank to my knees outside the door, watching them in an embrace. I bit my lip to keep the tears from flowing. Then I got to my feet and took off for second time in a couple months. Just my luck I kept bumping into those two at the worse possible times.  
  
But this was the last straw! Three weeks since I'd kissed him and he was getting married! I burst into the library, ran down the section about Transiguration, and plonked myself down at a secluded table. I pulled out the project I'd started weeks ago. Fuck being nice, fuck making friends, fuck breaking down house barriers, fuck all that shit that had gotten in the way the past couple months. I didn't care about being a Malfoy, I didn't care about being a Slytherin. I didn't care about any of that shit.  
  
At that moment, I decided something. I wanted Harry. If I wanted Harry before, it was nothing compared to right now. I was so angry, the first thing I wrote on the Option Page was 'Kill Ginny Weasley'. No. That wouldn't get me anywhere. Well, besides a cell in Azkaban. I crossed that out and focused my mind.  
  
I began writing options down, all ranging from seducing Ginny or Harry (whichever) and brewing up a love potion to give to Harry. But seduction was such a fine art that took careful planning. And love potions were illegal. So I slept and ate on it. I started talking to Pansy and the Slytherins again. I dropped Hermione, Harry and Ron. I was rotten to the Gryffindors again and it seemed as though everyone had gotten the old Draco Malfoy back.  
  
I felt better than I had in months. The only small problem was that I missed Harry, Ron and Hermione's company. But that didn't matter. Soon enough, I'd be with Harry. That was enough. Who cared if I had to hurt people along the way? If I got Harry in the end, fuck everyone else.  
  
Well, apparently, Harry, Hermione and Ron did indeed. They didn't want me being rotten to them, Hagrid, and the other Gryffindors. (I didn't really want to either.... but what choice did I have now?) The first problem in my "flawless" plan finally reared its ugly head, after a month of being horrible.  
  
It happened a week into January. The Gryffindors and Slytherins were in Care of Magical Creatures. I was sitting with Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
"We'll be seeing the centaurs again today," Hagrid announced and many students voiced their approval.  
  
"When are we ever going to move off of centaurs?" I asked Pansy loudly.  
  
"When you actually shut up," Hagrid said flatly, and the Gryffindors chuckled. When he had his back turned, I flipped him (A/N: Another way of saying, "I showed him my middle finger") and turned to Pansy.  
  
"Great oaf. Really hate him." Whilst I said that, I was gripping the grass tightly.  
  
"He should really be sacked," Pansy said, "Why don't you do something? Get one of the centaurs, that one you're assigned to, to attack you."  
  
Fuck. I was cornered. I couldn't say no. It was part of my plan to split up Ginny and Harry. But I couldn't do it. There was no way. I didn't want to get Hagrid sacked, for one thing, and another, I really liked Firenze.  
  
"We'll see," I replied.  
  
"Right. Here they come." They trotted onto the field.  
  
"Lovely. Don't they all look constipated?" I said and the Slytherins laughed heartily. It wasn't funny, but I couldn't think of anything else to say.  
  
"Actually," Hermione said a moment later, and all the Gryffindors and Slytherins went silent, "Can't help but think that describes *you* better." The Gryffindors laughed and said things like, "Had that one coming, Malfoy" (Dean Thomas), "Good one Hermione" (Lavender Brown) and "It sucks being constipated" (Seamus Finnigan).  
  
"Oh, go screw a Weasley. Seven to choose from, right?" The Slytherins went "Ohhhh!" and Pansy burst into really loud, high, hysterical laughter. Everyone, and I mean everyone, cringed. The look on Hermione's face almost made me break down and apologize. But I kept up my act. Ron had turned bright red.  
  
"Watch your mouth, Malfoy!" Hagrid roared.  
  
"Can't, sorry. Impossible to see my own mouth."  
  
"Shut up," said Harry slowly and clearly. Everyone went quiet. It stopped me right in my place and I did indeed shut up.  
  
"Right. Thank you, Harry," Hagrid said, "Now.... all of you, go find your centaur and have fun." I furrowed my brow. How I hoped Firenze hadn't witnessed my insulting Hermione. I slowly stalked over to who felt like the only person who didn't hate me at the moment.  
  
"Hello," I said. Firenze bowed his head and I climbed onto his back. Then he promptly dropped me onto the ground. Or not, "What the -" I stopped myself just in time. I got up off the floor and realized I'd deserved that. "I'm sorry."  
  
"You should be," he said sternly, and instead of getting back on his back, I began to walk next to him around the lake, "What you just did was completely uncalled for. You insulted Harry's best friend. I seem to remember she's *your* best friend as well." There was silence while I thought about what to say.  
  
"Dammit!" I burst out, "We were doing so well. Then he had to go and ask that stupid Weasley bitch to marry him!" Firenze didn't look the least bit surprised at the obscenities that had just flew from my mouth. He just let me continue ranting. "Don't think I've stopped loving him. I'm getting tired of saying it, but I truly love him. If he doesn't love me back, then what the fuck is the point? We kissed, Firenze. And it was so amazing! He's perfect in every single way. Except for the fact that he's with Ginny. She doesn't love him like I love him. It's so frustrating. Put yourself in my shoes, Firenze. You're absolutely obesessed with a guy, and he's with someone else. And you have to watch them together, kissing, hugging. It slowly drives you mad with jealousy. God how I hate Ginny. I don't want to, but I loathe her."  
  
There was silence. (A/N: There *is* a lot of silence in this fic). Rightful silence. I'd just said a lot of different things. I waited impatiently.  
  
"Draco." He sat down by a tree, his legs tucked under him. I sat down as well. "First.... I'm not going to say anything about your selection of words. Second, what's the point? The point is to believe in fate. If you and Harry are meant to be, you'll get together."  
  
"What if I don't believe in fate? What if I can't wait for it?" I asked.  
  
"Even if you don't believe in it, it's still there. You have to wait for it. You've got no other choice. Next, I'm very glad to hear you two kissed, but is he not dating Ginny?"  
  
"Yes and technically, he cheated on her."  
  
"Did you seduce him?" he asked. My jaw dropped.  
  
"No. He practically shoved his tongue down my throat. I could either bite it or admit it. Which option seemed more appealing, do you think?"  
  
"I see. If he isn't being honest with Ginny, that's a sure sign their relationships won't last. Without honesty, there is no foundation to build the relationship on. Don't give up quite yet. Last, put yourself in Harry's shoes."  
  
"Okay," I said and put on a very confused look, trying to imitate Harry's voice, "I'm a prat. Draco loves me, but I'm going to date someone I *don't* love. Partly because I'm a moron, and partly because I'm so innocently, beautifully, idiotically blind." Firenze had what could be called a very small smirk on his face. (A/N: Yes Firenze can smirk!)  
  
"Do you realize how intelligent you sound, even when you say stupid things?" the centaur inquired. I looked at him in contemplation for a minute.  
  
"Why would I notice I'm smart? You must think I'm very vain," I said.  
  
"Yes I do."  
  
"Well, that's lovely," I said sarcastically and Firenze laughed! Yes! I got a laugh out of him! There's hope for me yet!  
  
"Look.... Ginny and Harry.... seeing them together breaks my heart. I'm being rotten to Hermione because it's part of my plan."  
  
"That stupid plan?" Firenze demanded, and he seemed so angry I was sort of worried.  
  
"Um... the very one?" I offered lamely. He gave me an extremely dirty look before smacking me in the head with one of his hooves, "Abuse!" He laughed again.  
  
"Explain this plan to me and perhaps I can talk you out of it." I shook my head but told him anyway.  
  
"Well.... I think I'm going to tell Ginny that Harry and I kissed."  
  
"And?"  
  
"That's it," I replied.  
  
"How exactly do you plan on getting Harry if you break them up? Don't you think he'll be angry if you tell Ginny about the kiss?" he asked. I thought for a minute. I shrugged.  
  
"I guess I'll get someone else to start a rumour then."  
  
"Brilliant!" Firenze said enthusiastically.  
  
"Really?" I asked hopefully.  
  
"No." Damn. "How will that get you Harry?"  
  
"He'll come running to me when Ginny dumps him."  
  
"Or he'll think it's your fault and break your nose for splitting him and his girlfriend up." I glared.  
  
"Well I was thinking of seducing one of them as well."  
  
"And how would that get you what you want?"  
  
"Well... y'know... like... God, you suck," I said, with feeling. He laughed again. Yes! "I guess maybe Harry would break up with Ginny if he found out she slept with me."  
  
"And he'd be in a real hurry to get with you after that." Damn.  
  
"Okay.... I was thinking of making a love potion."  
  
"That's illegal, not to mention very stupid." I nodded. I hadn't been serious about that one.  
  
"I could kill Ginny," I said and Firenze laughed, "No I was serious."  
  
"I know. That's the funny part. Why would Harry go out with you if you killed her?" I was beginning to see a pattern. Why would Harry go out with me?  
  
"Fine! I'm incompetent!" I said, throwing my hands in the air in resignation. Firenze chuckled.  
  
"I'm surprised you didn't sweep Harry off his feet with your wit and charm."  
  
"It's a mystery," I admitted.  
  
"You *are* vain."  
  
"Yep." Firenze laughed. I liked this laughing business.  
  
"But honestly, are you really going to go through with a plan and break them up?"  
  
"No. Much too nice for that, y'know?"  
  
"Right."  
  
"Hey! I resent that! I gave a lot up to be their friends."  
  
"And you gave up even more to drop them." That hit me hard.  
  
"Yeah I know," I said quietly after a moment.  
  
"Give me a hug," Firenze said and I did. It felt nice. We both looked up as Seamus and his centaur took off around the Hogwarts' grounds, Seamus singing at the top of his lungs, "I get around! Round, round, round, round, round, I get around!" I could hear Hermione laughing so hard she was rolling around on the grass.  
  
"Muggle thing I guess," I said, mostly to myself. Firenze nodded, watching Seamus and his centaur bolt around the lake. "I'm too chicken to do it."  
  
"D'you know... I think perhaps you really are perfect for Harry. You care about him far too much. I have no doubt you'd never be able to hurt him."  
  
"I think - no, it's stupid," I started and then stopped.  
  
"Nothing you can say will be stupid. You've said too many stupid things today," Firenze said sweetly, "No but seriously.... you can tell me anything."  
  
"I know. All right - but don't laugh. Sometimes, like before I found out Harry and Ginny were getting married and before I found out they were even together, I thought about what it would be like to date Harry. And I started to think we were meant to be. Did you know I realized I loved Harry the minute he turned seventeen. That's got to be.... significant, somehow." I stretched out on the grass, staring at the sky. "It's times like that, and even now, when I think I still stand a chance. But I don't. I'm just being hopeful. That's all I have to give now. My desperate, last hope."  
  
"That was not stupid. Not at all. In fact, is kind of pretty. Hold onto that hope, Draco."  
  
"Okay. Thanks Firenze," I said and meant it. We rose and we made our back over to the rest of the class, which was beginning to gather again. There were only a few minutes left. I slid my arms around Firenze's neck and kissed him. (A/N: Sort of like you'd kiss your mummy or daddy. NOT a lover). "Really... thank you. You saved me from the practically inevetable crash and burn. You stopped it, though."  
  
"Forget that. Hurry up and apologize to those three before they realize how much better off they are without you!" he said. I nodded and began the long walk to Hermione, Harry and Ron. Not nearly long enough. I soon found myself facing them.  
  
"I think I'm going mad," I said, unable to think of something better, "I am so sorry. Hermione," I turned to her, "I'm sure you're only screwing this Weasley." The minute it left my lips I realized how mean it sounded. Crap! But she actually laughed. Then Ron did as well. I didn't pay attention to Harry. "Please don't be mad at me. I've had lots of things on my mind," I said carefully. Of course, Hermione picked up on it, but decided not to comment.  
  
"We have to talk, Draco. When I say we, I mean *you'll* be doing most of ther talking, and I'll be doing most of the listening." I nodded. "As in, right now. Move." She promptly connected her foot with my ass.  
  
"That hurt," I whined.  
  
"Good," she replied, "Then we're even." I glared at her and we went up to the school. The next conversation I was to participate in would be a turning point.  
  
(A/N: I was originally going to stop it there, but I realized you might kill me. Besides, that entire scene was very bad. But I'm extremely tired. It's 9.30 in the morning, and I went to bed at 4.30 in the morning! Bad chapters ensue with sleep deprivation. Right, on with the fic).  
  
*  
  
"Now," Hermione said, shoving me down in a chair in the library, "What the hell is your problem? What's up with you?"  
  
"Which should I answer first?"  
  
"Whichever," she replied.  
  
"All right. Let's see. Remember that last night before the Christmas holidays? Well, Harry and I went to talk. We ended up doing much more than that." Hermione looked at me, confused for a moment, and then her eyes widened in realization.  
  
"Oh!"  
  
"Yes. We kissed. Absolutely amazing, Hermione. He really is great at it. No wonder Ginny's with him. Actually, that wasn't funny at all," I admitted. Hermione smirked. Another first!  
  
"Wait! Harry kissed you behind Ginny's back. Ooh! They're getting married, too. Right, it's official by the way. Harry proposed."  
  
"Yes I know."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"Saw him proposing to her."  
  
"Shit, Draco," Hermione said, "I'm sorry!" She hugged me again. There was something about Hermione's hugs. They always made me feel a smidge better.  
  
"Don't worry about it," I said.  
  
"So.... Harry said he was going to ivite you to the wedding."  
  
"How thoughtful of him," I said. Hermione have me a sad look.  
  
"You might think about coming. Could provide you with closure."  
  
"I don't want closure, I want Harry," I said flatly. Hermion smiled sadly.  
  
"That's something you can't have yet." I frowned.  
  
"What if you told Ginny that we kissed?" I asked, although I knew what she'd say.  
  
"That would be so not smart." She put a hand on my hair. "I know how tough it must be for you -"  
  
"No you fucking don't," I corrected, "Was there a time when you couldn't have Ron because he was getting married to someone else? I didn't think so." Hermione shook her head.  
  
"In fifth year, he went out with Lavender Brown. I swear to God that almost killed me. Lavender was one of those kiss and tell kind of girls. She would describe, in perfect detail, how Ron kissed her played with her hair and other things." She shuddered. "I had this hopeless crush on him. I felt much the same you do now, though less intensified. I think that if I got Ron, and the competition included beautiful Lavender, you'll get Harry. I don't know why, I just think you will."  
  
"Hermione.... you are gorgeous. Prettiest in our year, I'd say."  
  
"Stop that. I know it's not true. Parvarti and Padma Patil are the prettiest. I'm way down there with Pansy," she said.  
  
"If you were way down there with Pansy," I said, putting a look of disgust on my face, "I wouldn't be your friend. You're prettier than Parvarti and Padma. Or at least I think so. I know Ron does. I've heard Slytherins taking about you too. Some nice stuff they say, too." Hermione blushed.  
  
"This is about you, not me."  
  
"I know. I wish I could believe what you say."  
  
"Look. If it happens, it'll happen on its own. I think it will. I do have some things to suggest, though. But it'll take a lot of strength on your part." I sat down and pulled her into the vacant chair beside me.  
  
"Go on," I said, eyes shining with interest.  
  
"You're so cute," Hermione said.  
  
"So I've heard. Go on."  
  
"Well.... I don't know if Harry is straight. I'm not sure if he's bisexual or homosexual or what. He acts sort of gay sometimes. When he talks about stuff he likes, he seems a bit gay. But that's a stereotype, so we can't base our assumptions on that. But I think there's a way we could figure out if he likes you."  
  
"I'm listening," I said.  
  
"Right. Are you willing to let the school know you're gay?" I liked how she cut to the point.  
  
"I'm a bit scared of people's reactions. Fuck, I'm terrified. But like I said, if it's to find out whether Harry likes me, then I'll do it."  
  
"We'll stand by you every minute of the day. Harry, Ron and I. I'm thinking if you let it out, you could start flirting with random guys to make Harry somewhat jealous. But if he doesn't like you, he won't take a second glance. Hopefully he'll glare at the guys you flirt with."  
  
"All right."  
  
"So I think it'd be best if I told Parvarti and Lavender that you told me you're gay. Then, it'll be spread around the school in a matter of minutes."  
  
"You're brilliant!" I said.  
  
"But are you sure you don't mind letting the school know?"  
  
"Put it this way. If I were to date Harry, the school would find out. Because I'm not into hiding my feelings. Except maybe from Harry himself. I'm not going to hide our relationship from everyone. So, yes, I'm sure I want the school to know." Hermione threw her arms around my kneck and, quite surprisingly placed a short kiss on my lips. (A/N: Ewwwwww!!!!)  
  
"Hermione..."  
  
"Shut up. That was a friendly kiss," she said.  
  
"Sure it was." She hit me and I grinned at her.  
  
"Okay. Well... I better go. Pansy wanted me to meet her in the Great Hall." Hermione smirked when I put a look of disgust on my face.  
  
"What's so bad about her?" she asked.  
  
"I often think that's what made me gay. I'm kidding. Isn't it a funny joke. She's just horribly unintelligent. That's why I much prefer your company." Hermione blushed.  
  
"That and she's damn ugly," Hermione added.  
  
"Yes, that too," I admitted. We both laughed and then went our seperate ways. What I hadn't told Hermione was that I planned to completely ignore Harry (which was going to kill me). I planned to play hard to get. Maybe, although I sincerely doubted it, he's get annoyed and dump Weasley. We'd have to see.  
  
As I left the library, I smiled at Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who had been previously poring over a book at a table. They both stared at me when I smiled. Then they slowly smiled back. I waved and exited the library. This wouldn't be that hard. Damn, was I ever wrong.  
  
  
  
Woo hoo! This was lots of fun to write. This chapter was fun to write because I think you really got to see how much Draco loves Harry. I hope you all picked up on it. (It was rather difficult not to).  
  
I hope you don't think I left you with a cliffhanger. I think I was much better than last time. So what did you think? Insert shameless plug here: Please read my Harry/Draco Christmas fic. It's not very good but I'd still like to hear what you think!  
  
Um.... Seamus was singing 'I get Around' by the Beach Boys somewhere in this chapter. When he was riding the centaur. I think that's my favourite song at the moment.  
  
*None of the guys go steady cuz it wouldn't be right to leave your best girl home on a Saturday night. I get around....*  
  
Heh heh. It's too funny. Right... anyone like the Beach Boys or am I alone in my insanity? They, among The Beatles, Nirvana and Grabage, are some of the best musicians in the world. Those four bands are my favourites. Anyone else like them? No? Right then. R&R!  
  
Tine 


	6. Wear Your Love Like Heaven

Chapter 6  
  
Rating: R. Ahead will be slash and a lot of violence. And I mean a lot.  
  
Disclaimer: Me? Own Harry Potter? I do!? YES!!!!! I can't believe it! I'm actually JK Rowling! YAY!!!!!! Um.... was that believable? Then I'm not JK Rowling, who owns Harry Potter.  
  
Authror's Note: Crap! I forgot to fucking save when I was writing this chapter a few nights ago. So then I had to start it over again! Urgh!! It sucked. Oh well.  
  
Anyone know a band called Simple Plan? I saw them in concert on the 29th of December AND I got to meet them!!!!!!! It was like a dream come true. I got to hug Pierre (one of THE sexiest people in the world) and David and Jeff and I'm so unbelievably happy!!! I'm wearing the shirt Pierre signed for me! Ahem. Sorry.  
  
Okay. I'm not in the greatest of moods today. It is now New Year's Eve. And I got a couple rather unpleasant reviews. So whatever. Don't be surprised if I'm not that happy in my responses. It's very long.  
  
Thanks to: Copacabana (Yes it's a fun song. Glad you thought it was funny. Seriously? Where'd you get the shirt? I LOVE Garbage. Ansd thanks, you have great taste as well if you like the bands I mentioned! Don't worry, we all want to hit Draco. As for Ginny, I seriously want to kill her. But I must reastrain myself. Hope you like this chapter!), Cyber (Sorry. Hope I didn't leave you with much of a cliffhanger for this. Yes, I do have lots of mistakes, but it's only because I write fast and they're mostly typos. Here's more!), mellifluous cloud (Wow! Your review was absolutely touching. To hear that my writing is beautiful is truly a wonderful thing. Thank you so much! So do I. The only conventional pairing I like is Hermione/Ron because I think they really will get together in the books. Nirvana is the most amazing band of all time. I absolutely adore Kurt Cobain), francis bean (I can't find your bio on this site. But oh well. Your name is awesome. It's Kurt Cobain's daughter's name. But I guess you already knew that), Emmanulie (You had some good criticism for me. Thanks! It's exactly what I need. Actually, I wanted Draco and Hermione to be as close as brother and sister. That's really important to this story. But anyways, thanks for the review!), Icicle (Yay! You reviewed my story. Twice! I noticed a mentioning you in her fics as well. Well, I'll review her fic so she'll add the next chapter, cuz I want to read it as well! Yes... Draco is pitiful. But you can hardly blame hi, what with Harry beaing a bastard and all. I agree... Ginny is a bit young to be hopping on the good foot and doing the bad thing, but I wanted them to do that so Harry wouldn't be inexperienced if you get my drift. I really hate Ginny/Harry, I'm surprised I can stand to write them together. It's actually kind of fun. Everyone gets made at me for it, but oh well!), Kay (You cried!? Me too! I'm glad you acknowledged that this is original. I was beginning to worry that I'm a hypocrite! And I agree. I think the fatc that they're friends is really great!), Katie of Gryffindor (Yes. I was actually thinking of making him not propse and then I saw anothe roption and I had to take it! Glad to hear the chapter didn't suck! And I've got the song stuck in my head cuz I was recently listening to it), LadyDeath (You reviewed! Yay! I think the chapters are kind of short, to be honest. I used to have that problem. I would always stop after one scene. I can usually fit in three of four now! Sorry! I'll go review that later!), S. Wing (Well.... thanks. That made me feel great. Knowing that my writing style isn't very good. Thanks for the review, but you didn't really say why my writing style isn't that great. I know Dorco is OOC. Whoever that is... Because his name Draco. But thanks for the review), a (Hee hee! Glad you liked it! You deserved to get your fic plugged! It's so good! And I'm not complaining! You gave me 70 reviews!), FlamingFaeryOfDarkness (You're the first person to notice the chapter naming thing! Glad you like it! And thanks you SO much for adding me to your favourites. I was really honoured). Thanks to everyone who reviewed my other stories! I was really happy to read them!  
  
What to say about this chapter? I daresay you'll like it! There's some slash at the very beginning. Remember. This fic really is rated R. There's a reason for that. I am making this fairly explicit, although I refuse to make it smut. I think it's just some much anticipated slash. If you don't like the thought of two men in "that" way, then please save me and yourself the trouble. Just don't read it. Enjoy!  
  
  
  
Everyone had gone down to breakfast except me. It was oddly dark in the room. I lay in bed thinking about my life and the people in it, not really caring that I was nude. A blanket covered the bottom half of my body, and my arms were behind my head, pillowing it.  
  
The door the the dormitory creaked open. I was enjoying the feeling of just lying there. So much, I forgot to wrench the hangings around my four poster shut. Not that it mattered terribly. Nothing no one in my dormitory hadn't seen before. Not that I stripped regularly, but you know.  
  
I didn't look to see who was there. That was a very bad thing. Suddenly, I felt something slip into my bed with me. A very naked something. And the something began to plant hot, sexy kisses on the corners of my mouth. I was terrified and strangely aroused. Who was this someone? For I could tell that it was actually a person. And a boy! And I liked it!  
  
He pinned me to the bed with his body, our erections rubbing together through the felt of the blanket. He put his hand on the back of my head, slowly pulling the blanket out from under him. I couldn't let whoever it was do anything to me until I found out who it was. But it was so dark. Which was odd, as it was morning. I pushed my hands up to meet the feel of his hair and gasped.  
  
"Draco?" I demanded. He placed a finger to my mouth, and I knew that of course it was him. His face became visible through the glim of the room. It was a beautiful face.  
  
"Harry," he muttered and I felt my erection throb painfully, "If you don't want me here, I'll leave. I just came to see you." Time stopped as he waited for my answer. I knew what I should have said, but what actually came out was:  
  
"I don't want you to leave, Draco. I want you to take me, right here." Did I really? Draco smiled. He told me to relax and and entered me, gasping out my name. It was truly beautiful to hear him say my name like that. I thrust upward hard and he screamed my name.  
  
Just when we were about to come simultaneously, I sat up in bed.  
  
First I wondered why I had woken up before he and I had explored each other mercilessly. Then I wondered why the hell I'd had a wet dream about Draco, of all people, and not my girlfriend.  
  
That's when I realized I was indeed attracted to guys, and perhaps even a certain Slytherin. But I was too stubbourn to admit it right then. After all, I was engaged to Ginny.  
  
I dressed and left the Gryffindor common room, making my way down to the Great Hall. I went in to see Hermione and Ron. They were eating a piece of toast, one of them at each end. I sat down and watched them. They ate the toast and met at the end with a kiss.  
  
"That's really not all it's cracked up to be," Ron muttered, "We both had toast in our mouths."  
  
"Yes, that rather ruins the moment," Hermione admitted and I smirked at them.  
  
"I hate to admit it, because you're my best friends and all, but you two really make the cutest couple at Hogwarts," I said. Hermione and Ron smiled at me and linked their hands together upon the tabletop.  
  
"Really Harry Potter? I rather though we were the cutest," Ginny said, sitting down next to me. I put my arm around her and pulled her closer. I caught Hermione's searching look and then she turned back to Ron. I turned my face and caught her mouth with mine, all the while thinking of Draco's hot mouth and not Ginny's cold one. I pulled away because it was disturbing.  
  
Ginny picked up an apple and bit into it.  
  
Parvarti and Lavender suddenly quealed so loud all of us cringed. "Let us see the ring!" they screamed in unison. Ginny held it out happily and all three of them began talking about it.  
  
"Corr," I said, "I've got a mall rat girlfriend!" Ginny whipped around and smacked me playfully.  
  
"Oh!" Parvarti said, and she leaned in closer. For some reason all of us listened. "You'll never believe the gossip I heard last night!"  
  
"Yes," Lavender said, "Quite shocking to be honest. Rather a shame as well."  
  
"Did you hear?" Parvarti asked and we all leaned forward in interest, "Draco Malfoy is gay." There was silence. Then a Gryffindor who'd been sitting not too far away jumped to her feet and ran to the Ravenclaw table. She proceeded to tell some friends, who told their friends, who told the Hufflepuff table, who in turn burst out laughing and got Justin Finch- Fletchey to walk over to Pansy Parkinson and say loudly, for the whole hall to hear, "If it true you're so ugly you turned Draco Malfoy gay?" That caused everyone to crack up. Even us at our table were crying with mirth.  
  
"I can't help but think all the good ones are taken," Parvarti said, "Draco's off limits to us now. Horrible, really. I used to imagine that he didn't wear any trousers under his robes. I remember a couple times I almost reached right up there." Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas (who had just arrived), and I stared at her.  
  
"I didn't know you cared," said a drawling voice at my right. I glanced up to see Draco standing there, grinning widely. My hands clenched as I felt my arousal through all my clothing. I looked at Pansy and calmed down. The hall went silent. He sat down in the empty spot next to me.  
  
"Hello," he said loudly to the hall after a few more moments of complete silence. Ron laughed and then other people followed suit. The school broke out into babble again.  
  
"I can't believe I never realized you swing that way," Ron said, "But it's fine. As long as you're not attracted to me." Draco smirked.  
  
"Don't flatter yourself," he said and Ron laughed again.  
  
"He prefers black hair," Hermione said and Draco glared at her.  
  
"Yes," he admitted, "That guy over there is rather sexy."  
  
"So am I," Seamus said. He really was rather vain. I found myself laughing hysterically and I had to stuff some bread in my mouth. Draco glanced at me, amused, before answering.  
  
"You're just a bit too Irish for me," Draco said.  
  
"Hey!" Seamus shouted indignantly.  
  
"Just kidding. You've got a sexy look about you.... especially that Irish accent. Mine's so British... nothing like yours." Seamus grinned from ear to ear.  
  
"You know who had a great accent," Colin Creevey inquired, sitting beside Draco, "Oliver Wood. He tickled my fancy." Draco burst out laughing. The sight was amazing. I think anyone wuld agree with me. He pounded the table with his fists, laughter filling the hall. He threw his blonde head back and laughed. It was truly adorable. (A/N: Can't you just see Draco doing that? Oh that sexy body, convulsing with laughter. Right... on with the story).  
  
"It's hard for me to imagine anyone tickling *your* fancy," Malfoy said after he'd stopped giggling, "But I agree with you. Oliver Wood was sexy. I think I fancied him in third year, even though I didn't know I was gay then."  
  
For some reason, when he said that, I felt a little resentful. I'm not sure why. I just got a bit angry.  
  
"I love blondes," Colin said.  
  
"Me too," Everyone except Draco said. He smiled.  
  
"I'm honoured, really. But I'm just not attracted to any of you," he said. Bread rolls flew at him from all directions. That was when Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson came up behind Draco. Zabini smacked Draco upside the head (A/N: That's the funniest expression I've ever heard) and Draco promptly turned around.  
  
"Blaise...." he greeted.  
  
"Get up," Zabini ordered. Draco got up and faced Blaise.  
  
"I know you want a piece of me, but you're not my type," Draco said. Hermione ducked under the table to hide her laughter.  
  
"How dare you. Accuse me of being a fucking pouffe? I'm not abnormal, like you!" he spat. Snape was walking toward the Gryffindor table.  
  
"Oh.... abnormal as in that I'm attracted to guys? Honey," he said, "I'm sorry if you're jealous, but I just don't want to lie to you." He put his hands on Zabini's shoulders in what looked like much more than just a friendly gesture.  
  
"You fag!" he shouted. Snape stopped dead in his tracks.  
  
"Zabini. Who are you using such language with?" Snape asked, his voice dangerously low.  
  
"Draco! Haven't you heard? He's gay." There was silence, as Snape gave Draco a calculating look. Then Zabini gave Draco a *disgusted* look, "I can't believe you're gay."  
  
"I can't believe you're still here," Draco shot back and Ron grinned. Zabini then shoved Draco, and Draco shoved him back. Next moment, they were rolling on the ground, throwing punches at each other. Draco rolled over on top of Zabini. I couldn't help but remember my dream.  
  
"Bet you're loving this," Zabini gasped out, as Draco was strangling him.  
  
"No," Draco said, panting, "Like I said, I DON'T fancy you." The comment was met with a knee in Draco's groin. Draco yelled angrily and his fist shot out, catching Zabini in the jaw. The Great Hall was a frenzy. People ran repeatedly backward from the two quarreling boys. They were fighting right in front of Snape!  
  
"Don't bite me!" Zabini yelled and Ron cracked up laughing. Draco proceeded to smack Zabini's head on the hard floor. Snape tried to pry the Slytherin off of Draco, but Zabini was having none of it. I was watching, rather amused.  
  
"Help me, Potter. Grab hold of Malfoy!" Snape ordered. Oh, great. I siezed Draco round the middle and pulled him upright. Unfortunately, Zabini tried to kick Draco, so his foot collided with my knee. I cursed and Snape grabbed Zabini, holding him firmly.  
  
My crotch was brushing against Draco's back. I breathed deeply, thought of Pansy naked, imagined an orgy between lots of Slytherin girls and managed to calm my arousal.  
  
Hermione stepped forward, and much to everyone's surprise, struck Zabini across the face. It echoed!  
  
"If you touch Draco again, you'll have about six Gryffindors ambushing you when you least expect it."  
  
"Yeah," Parvarti and Lavender said together and they slapped him as well.  
  
"You three!" Snape said in a warning voice, "As much as Zabini deserved that, please don't so it again." Parvarti, Lavender and Hermione nodded and then turned their attention to Draco.  
  
"You've got a black eye!" Hermione said in a soothing tone, putting her hand on it. She began fussing over Draco until he told her firmly to stop it.  
  
"I'm fine," Draco insisted. Snape let go of Zabini and he sneered at Draco as he walked by. I was trying not to get intoxicated by the scent of Draco's hair. It was really getting me aroused. I snapped out of my reverie to find Hermione staring at me strangely.  
  
"You can let go of him now," Ginny said. Oops. I quickly peeled myself from Draco and stepped back.  
  
"Are you all right?" I whispered into his ear.  
  
"Yes," he said in a breathless voice, "I'm fine." Ginny jumped to her feet.  
  
"Why don't we go talk by the lake?" she asked. That was when I got another huge shock. I realized that I wanted to spend time with Draco, and not with Ginny.  
  
I figured it was because he'd just been in a fight and told Ginny I wanted to finish eating. We kissed and she left.  
  
I didn't know it then, but I was going to become rather stressed. About love, sex, school, friends and marriage. All of it would be because of Draco. And I wouldn't mind in the least.  
  
*  
  
I skipped along the hallway, humming and jumping on random stairwells. People were staring, but it didn't matter. I was getting married in a few months time, I had the best friends anyone could ask for, there was no sign of Voldemort, and I was doing well in school! Everything was going great. Except one thing.  
  
What Draco had said months ago was beginning to get to me. He'd said that Marrying Ginny wasn't smart if I didn't love her. I was starting to wonder if I really loved Ginny. But I pushed that from my mind as I ran down the corridor. I'd just got perfect on a Potions essay, so I was skipping whether anyone cared or not.  
  
I broke into a run and dashed out of the school. It was Friday, last day of classes before the weekend and I had no more lessons left. I hurried down the steps of the school and slowed to a walk. Ahead of me was Draco. Walking with somewhat of a limp. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen Draco during Potions.  
  
I ran forward, and sort of wished I hadn't. He looked a fright. He was limping because his leg seemed broken. His eye was swollen shut, and his arm hung limply to his side. He had a split lip. And yet he still looked amazing. God, even when he looked like shit, he looked beautiful. Which didn't make sense, but there you are. I grabbed him by the shoulders.  
  
"What happened, Draco?" I demanded, and I knew I sounded frantic.  
  
"Nothing," he muttered. I let go of his shoulders and he wavered. Then he fell forward on to me.  
  
"Don't fucking lie to me, Draco!" I yelled, holding him upright, "This is not *nothing*! Who did this to you? Was it Zabini?" I was hysterical.  
  
"Yes. Crabbe and Goyle too."  
  
"Ugh! And you're still walking?!"  
  
"Hardly," Draco admitted and I put my arm around him to steady him.  
  
"Did they beat you up 'cause you're gay?" I asked.  
  
"No," he said disdainfully. Jesus, even after he got beat up, he could be sarcastic.  
  
"Look. I'll take you to Madam Pomfrey and we'll see what happens. What did happen exactly?" I asked. We began hobbling back toward the school.  
  
"Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle ambushed me before Potions and kicked the shit out of me. I managed to knock out Blaise, as he's really not as strong as he reckons. But that didn't stop Crabbe and Goyle." He was having trouble speaking but he did it anyway.  
  
"So why did you tell people you were gay?" I wondered aloud, then cursed myself for having not thought before speaking.  
  
"I don't really care if they hurt me...." he said, "I'm not going to go around pretending I'm attracted to girls when I'm not. Besides, this way, Pansy isn't hanging off my arm every second." We shuddered in unison, then smiled.  
  
"You know... whenever I get aroused," I said and wondered why the hell I was saying this to Draco at all, "I think of Pansy to calm myself down."  
  
"Me too," Draco said, a smile playing on his lips. It didn't look nearly as attractive as it did without the split lip.  
  
"God," I said. Then I didn't know what else to say, so I didn't say anything. I wondered why he wasn't bringing up the kiss in the classroom, and why he wasn't awkward. I certainly was, practically hugging Draco as we walked into the school and toward the Hospital Wing.  
  
"God what?" Draco asked after a minute of silence.  
  
"Oh... I didn't really have anything planned after that." He laughed, but it was raspy and sounded nothing like the laugh I normally heard from him.  
  
"You know... I thought perhaps you would just ignore me and keep walking," Draco said. I stopped and stared at him.  
  
"Please. Would that be something for Harry Potter to do? Leave a defenseless boy to fend for himself. One who got his ass kicked because of some homophobic idiots. I couldn't do that. Really I couldn't." Draco smirked.  
  
"Never miss a chance to show off, right?" Draco said.  
  
"No. It's not that. I have this conscience (A/N: I can't spell that word) that makes me stop for anyone who's hurt. Actually, once Ron got me with that curse I've got. Part of an April Fools' Day trick I think. We were fighting and I shoved him and he made a show of falling off a flight of stairs. Turns out he'd planned it all along and I fell for it. I actually started crying because I thought he was dead. He's a good actor, that bastard. Even got Hermione in on the trick. She started crying, saying she couldn't feel a pulse. I didn't talk to them for days afterward." Draco was laughing in the entire duration of the story.  
  
We finally reached the Hospital Wing and escorted ourselves in. I sat Draco on a bed and when I turned around, I found Zabini sitting on another bed, staring at us. Something inside me snapped. That asshole had beaten the shit out of Draco. I took two steps foward and slammed my fist into his jaw. He turned his head and his mouth started bleeding.  
  
At that moment, Madam Pomfrey came bustling in.  
  
"Zabini, you should be fine, you just -" she started, then paused as she caught sight of Zabini bleeding all over the place, "What in the world happened here?" She mended Zabini's jaw with a flick of her wand.  
  
"I'm sorry Madam Pomfrey, but Zabini beat up Draco and I had to get him back."  
  
"Twenty points from Gryffindor and be glad it's not more. You let the adults deal with the punishing. Do sit down, while I tend to Mr Malfoy." I nodded and sat down in a chair next to Draco's bed.  
  
"No need to fuss, Madam. I'm prefectly fine."  
  
"You're not perfectly fine! And if you were telling Potter that, then it's a good thing he took you here anyway. You leg is broken, as is your arm. And your eye looks a mess. You'll be here over night. Zabini!" She whipped around and began scolding him.  
  
"Poppy," said a voice at the door, and I gasped when I saw it was Snape, "May I come in and see you newest patients?"  
  
"Yes, yes. Just don't shout at them Severus. Or perhaps Zabini, but Malfoy's ears might pop if you yell at him."  
  
"Right," Snape said and stepped up to Zabini, "I thought I made myself very clear. You are not to hurt Mr Malfoy. Fifty points taken from Slytherin. I don't care how right you think you were. Nothing gives you the right to hurt another student. You'll also be recieving a detention, which you will serve with me. I don't care what you think of Malfoy, I will not have you beating on him. Now apologize."  
  
"I won't apologize to him. He should be punished. Being a homosexual is evil. It says so in the Bible!" Zabini said, "God shall send Draco to Hell."  
  
"I respect your opinion, Blaise," Snape said, but it didn't sound like he did, "But I don't think it gives you the right to hurt Draco. If he is to be punished, let God get on with it. You may go. You'll receive an owl telling you when and where your detention will be." Zabini nodded, shot Draco another disgusted look and stalked out of the infirmary.  
  
"Fool," Snape snapped, turning to Malfoy. I thught I heard him mutter 'There is no God', but the next moment he was yelling at me, "I don't care if he hurt Draco, don't you ever do that again!"  
  
"If defending my friend means I have to get yelled at, punished or hurt in the process, so be it," I said.  
  
"You're not to hurt Zabini again. Even if he hurts Draco."  
  
"Draco is my friend, and I will not stand by -" I was interrupted as Draco stood up.  
  
"Hey! Stop talking about me like I'm not here! I don't care if they want to hurt me. Zabini is merely trying to prove his point. He doesn't believe in being gay."  
  
"But how can you not believe in it?" I exploded, and everyone in the room stared at me, "You're either gay or you're not. It's not like people choose to be gay. You could ask a gay person, and they'd probably say they'd rather not be gay!"  
  
"Harry," Draco said, placing a hand on my arm, "We all agree with you. Tell that to the people who don't." Snape and Madam Pomfrey were nodding.  
  
"I'm sorry," I said, and realized I was crying. I put my arms around Draco, "When I first saw you like that outside.... I just - I was so scared. How could Zabini do that to you, just because you're gay?"  
  
"Because he's scared too," Draco replied. All I could do was hug him harder.  
  
*  
  
"Hermione!" Parvarti shouted, running over to where her, Ron and I were sitting. We were doing our homework.  
  
"Yes Parvarti?" Hermione said absently, flipping through a pamphlet featuring pet food. She wanted to buy come for Crookshanks.  
  
"Is it true you and Draco are going out?" she demanded. There was silence as Ron looked up, rather angrily, Hermione's head snapped up and the pamphlet lay forgotten in front of her. I stared at Hermione, to see her reaction.  
  
"Um...." Hermione said and then she laughed, "Draco's gay."  
  
"Well, there's a rumour going around that he was just pretending to be gay so you two could go out without anyone even thinking of it," Parvarti replied.  
  
"Did you come up with that all by yourself?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Yes. So are you two going out?"  
  
"No, we're not," Hermione answered. Then she started laughing, "Draco really is gay. Plus I've got the perfect guy right here." Hermione linked her arm with Ron's and although he still looked slightly annoyed, he smiled.  
  
"Well. Just so you know. There's another rumour going around that you're seeing Harry behind Ron's back," Parvarti stated.  
  
Ron pulled his arm out of Hermione's and stared pointedly at me.  
  
"Ron!" I said, "Don't even go there. I would never do that to you. Plus I'm with Ginny!"  
  
"Oh.... and they're saying that Hermione's pregnant and that's why you proposed to Ginny. To hide it."  
  
"Parvarti. Have you ever considered shutting your fucking mouth?" I demanded irritably. She looked taken aback.  
  
"I don't really think -"  
  
"No you don't." Hermione smirked. Parvarti sighed and strutted off, accidentally smacking into Neville. Hermione snorted and we high fived. Ron was looking suspicious.  
  
"Oh come on Ron," Hermione snapped, "You know I only like you. I've liked you since first year."  
  
"I know. I'm sorry," Ron said. Hermione kissed him.  
  
"Don't worry about it. Now... I wonder how much this food is?"  
  
  
  
I'm sorry this chapter is so short. I wrote that little scene right there because I couldn't help it. It was fun to write.  
  
First of all, before you all jump at me about the whole Zabini believing in God thing, just listen. I know in most stories he's a Death Eater. Well like I said, this isn't going to be like most stories. We're going to be touching upon the religion thing a lot.  
  
Zabini is going to be rather big in this story. Because I recently went to a Bible camp. The camp was retardedly (not a word, I know) conservative. I personally believe exactly what Hermione does in this story. That if two men or women love each other, let them get on with it in peace. They're not hurting anyone. But there are some people who think God thinks it's evil. I believe that God made us who we are and that if we're gay, then it's because God made us gay. I don't think it's a choice, but that's me. So please don't flame me about Zabini believing in God, or not liking that Draco is gay. This is my story, and if I want Zabini to be religious, then damn it he will be.  
  
I put Snape in this chapter because he'll be another big part of this story. Snape's an atheist. (Remember, this is my story). There will be a reason why later on (but perhaps you will figure it out on your own). Please remember that this if Fanfiction (hense the name of this site). I sincerely doubt this will happen in the books. So don't tell me that it won't happen, as I know it won't. 8-)  
  
This story is starting to really earn its rating. I'll be dealing with these subjects because I think they should be dealt with in society. The reason Draco gets hurt in this story is because of something similar that happened at my school. A kid there was gay, and some other kids beat the shit out of him. I think that's wrong. I will probably project lots of my thoughts into this story. Not all of them, of course. But some. I write because it makes me feel better about the things I really can't change. Instead, I write about people coming to and overcoming these obstacles. I hope you understand that. This story being a bit moral. It's a very big part of my life, thus big in my story!  
  
Sorry this Author's Note is so long, but I wanted you to understand those things. Right. So, hope you liked the chapter! Let me know what you thought! Ciao!  
  
Tine 


	7. Worst Day Ever

Chapter 7  
  
Rating: R  
  
Disclaimer: As you well know, Harry Potter does not belong to me. I wish it did, but it doesn't. Now stop hassling me.  
  
Author's Note: Well! I was all ready to come onto FF.Net and re-upload Chapter 6 of Know Your Enemy. I thought there was some sort of error when I tried to the first time. Apparently, I was wrong. But I'm not complaining. Easier for me.  
  
I have the best reviewers in the world. You're all really awesome. You read new chapters of Know Your Enemy practically the day they get up and then you submit these heart warming reviews that leave me speechless and touched. Because to have people who like my writing truly is amazing. It is something I have dreamed about since I was a very little girl. I will indeed take a career in writing, whatever it may be. Whether I become a journalist, an author, or a freelance writer, I'll always write and want people who like it. To think that I have so many people who enjoy Know Your Enemy, is truly flattering. Which is why I take the time to respond to every review I get in each chapter. I feel connected to every one of you. You're the people who brighten my day. I log on to this site, and you make me feel likea good person. So this next chapter if dedicated to all of you.  
  
Thanks to: Katie of Gryffindor (Thanks. I had hoped people would like the first scene. 8-) Bit of a shame it was just a dream, though. Harry.... realizing he's gay? Another couple chapter I'm afraid. Right now, he's just confused. Blaise as a religious guy. Yeah... a bit weird. But I like to try new things. That's a compliment above all others. Thanks! Don't worry... I will!), Cloud (Your favourite D/H fic? I'm honoured. I truly am. I'm just glad I can live up to the expectations. Moulin Rouge is an awesome movie. Can't find it, though. And I'm very annoyed), Liliku (Happy New Year!), Belle (Wow! A nice, long review! I heard that story about Matthew Shepard. It's actually one of the things that sprouted Draco's condition in the last chapter. I figure no one should get beaten because of their choice in gender. So I'm glad you agree. Happy New Year!), Transcendence (Your review stirred something inside me. I want you to know that homosexuality is close to me as well. I have a LOT of gay and lesbian friends. Draco getting beat up was very hard for me to write. Because when I do that, I imagine my best friend (who is bisexual) getting that torture and it truly scares me. I'm very glad you liked this story and I'm SO glad it got a reaction from you. It tells me I'm not alone in this world. There are other people who agree with me on gay and lesbian rights! So thank you for your review! It touched me and warmed my heart. I I was crying when I read your review), Copocabana (To eb quite honest, I actually like Pansy. There's Pansy in this chapter. And no Pansy bashing. Garbage rox!), Kay (Hehehe. Yeah, the dream was lots of fun to write. Glad you liked Snape. Your friend reads it? Get him to leave a review! Here's the update. Hope you like it!), Luwana-Fluff-Dragon (The Beach Boys are great. You're sad? I don't even know who Take That are. I don't listen to pop music because I find it ruins the true music spirit. I love rock and roll, lite rock and grunge. Punk is all right. Simple Plan and blink-182 are the only bands I like and they'r enot even really punk. I hate people who say trhey're punk. Like Avril Lavigne whom I truly hate, Sum 41 whatnot. The real punk is The Clash (R.I.P. Joe Strummer!) and The Ramones. Not that you care about any of that. But I'm telling you anyway! Thanks! Glad you like it!) Cyber (I'm glad you believe that. It's an important thing to believe in. Harry hasn't realized it yet. He's simply curious. Hehehe. Next chapter), Lady Death (Glad you liked it. Please make your fic D/H!!! Please!!!!) Ladyblondhair (I'm glad! Don't worry! He will. Life in the Fancy is a book I invented that I'm thinking of writing. Would you like to read it? Review and let me know!), Ryan-Sama (So would I. I'd probably beat the shit out of them. No one messes with my friends and gets away with it! I'm glad you like this story!), Jubilee (Firenze. What an awesome dude! You mean his conversation with Draco. Yes... you know Draco needed it. Actually... you faced me with a bit of a dilemma. Cuz I realized that you're right.... the bible does say that. But I think it's a different kind of witchcraft they're talking about. Not the one where people a waving wands about. Because lots of those witches and wizards do believe in God, I'm sure, what with all the muggles mixed with families. The kind of witchcraft I think the bible's talking about is th eone that summons spirits and whatnot. I'm actually not educated on the witchcraft background. But thanks for pointing it out. Well of course Zabini is damned. You're not supposed to hate people. And he hates Draco. Here's the next update!), Icicle (Yeah. Harry's so sweet. Glad it's deep. Exactly what I wanted!) Cloud, a (Dont' worry about it. You still reviewed! Barry Trotter. Hilarious story! Dorco! That's horrible. Just glad I've got good reviewers like you! Thanks! That being said.... your fic is extremely wonderful. Hurry up with the next chapter! I agree... it is far-fetched!)  
  
I'm sorry if that was extremely corny, but I was so touched by all the reviews I got for the sixth chapter of Know Your Enemy in one day. Just thought I'd acknowledge how much you influence my writing!  
  
Do you know what, though? I'm scared of making you guys mad. So I cheat and give you some slash even when I say I'm not going to. Like Harry's dream in the last chapter.  
  
Here comes the slash machine! Slash in this chapter. Turn away now, you homophobes! (But I don't think any homophobes read this, thank God!) For you! Slashy goodness! Hope you like it!  
  
Oh! Guess what I was thinking of doing. When I was reading my reviews, I realized how many people enjoy 'Life in the Fancy' excerpts. And I was thinking that if enough of you wanted it, I could write the actual 'Life in the Fancy'. I'm going to write it for fun anyway, but if you'd like to read it, let me know and perhaps I'll post it up here! 8-)  
  
My keyboard doesn't allow me to put the little accent on the E for French words like fiance. Just visualize the accents where they would normally be.  
  
  
  
"Fuck," Ron said with feeling, after reading a roll of parchment that had come with his owl, Pig.  
  
"Ron!" Hermione shrieked.  
  
"What's the problem?" Harry asked.  
  
"It's from Bill and his fiance," Ron explained. I had to search my mind for a moment before I came up with a conclusion as to why this was a horrible thing.  
  
"Ritzy?" I demanded. Ron nodded his head in disgust.  
  
"I hate that bitch!" Hermone spoke suddenly, stunning all of us yet again with her language, and glanced up from her borrowed copy of 'Life in the Fancy'. After Harry had read it for the millionth time, Hermione had "borrowed" it to find out what was so good about it. She'd been reading for the past two days.  
  
"You mentioned her once, didn't you?" I inquired, and Ron nodded.  
  
"I loathe her. She's so.... annoying. She has this horrible speaking voice. She made it a habit of telling me how wrong Hermione and I were for each other."  
  
"Why in the world would Bill date her if she was so bad?" Harry asked curiously.  
  
"Love potions, of course!" Ron said.  
  
"Really? But - wait a second - aren't love potions illegal?" Harry asked. I almost cracked up laughing right then.  
  
"No, not really, Harry. I was joking. I haven't a clue why Bill fancies her, as I am not him. Ask him when he and Ritzy visit."  
  
"They're visiting?" we spluttered, staring at Ron.  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Fuck is right," I said.  
  
"Yes, you swore for a good reason," Hermione agreed.  
  
"So when exactly are they coming?" Harry questioned.  
  
"Friday afternoon. For the Easter weekend. Bill says I should meet him and Ritzy at Hogsmeade Station. D'you want to come along?" We all agreed to. That visit from Bill and Ritzy would be a turning point.  
  
*  
  
"Hermione," Ron whined, fidgeting. He was actually pacing. I'd never seen him so nervous in all the years I'd known him. "Please. Straighten your hair. And - I mean, could you - put it up or something?"  
  
"Ron," Hermione said, "I am not going to change myself for Ritzy. Who needs her consent? We like each other. That's all that matters."  
  
"So," Harry said, turning to me, "How long do you think it'll take them to start an argument. My bet is two minutes."  
  
"One," I replied. I suddenly wished I had a cigarette in my hand so I could toss it on the ground and crush it with my foot.  
  
"One minute? You're on. A galleon says it'll in start two minutes." I smirked, and we shook on it.  
  
"Come on, " Ron said, fiddling with Hermione's hair, "Just for once... make yourself look pretty." There was silence as Harry and I inclined our heads in unison to see what Hermione's reaction to Ron's horrible remark would be.  
  
"Screw you," Hermione said in a small voice and turned away from Ron. I watched as a tear fell down her cheek, "Bet you didn't have to worry about this kind of thing with Lavender." More tears. I tried to stay where I was, but I couldn't help it. Hermione was my best friend. I didn't want to see her crying. I jogged the five steps it took to get to her and wrapped my arms around Hermione. Then I pulled her away from Ron and Harry's listening ears.  
  
"Hermione," I said lifting her head up, "He's only worried about Ritzy making fun of you. He doesn't want you to get hurt."  
  
"I know," Hermione whispered, "But what does he mean 'Look pretty for once?' "  
  
"Guys never say the right things when they're nervous. You should know that from Longbottom." Hermione almost gave in. I saw a little smile.  
  
"What if he doesn't really think I'm pretty?" she asked.  
  
"Well then he's a loser, because you are pretty. You're beautiful." Hermione's eyes filled with more tears and she hugged me.  
  
"Thank you, Draco," she said, "Harry doesn't know what he's missing." Then she ran over to Ron and hugged him.  
  
"I'm sorry, Hermione!" Ron said, "I really don't know the meaning of the word 'tact'. You're always pretty!"  
  
"Shut it, Ron," Hermione said and she stepped away from him. Then she whispered a spell that made her hair really straight and pulled it up into a ponytail. Then she gave this triumphant grin and Ron gave one back. Then they both sprang together and began... well, making out.  
  
"Where's the lesson learned? You were supposed to realize that you don't need straight hair and ponytails to be pretty!" I shrieked, "Ugh! You people are impossible!" Harry burst out laughing. I watched him. I had to fight the strong urge to kiss him.  
  
"Hey!" Harry said, getting up from the floor, "Watch this, Draco." I watched him. "There's Ritzy!" Ron and Hermione sprang apart. It was my turn to crack up laughing. They walked over to us and then Hermione nudged my shaking body.  
  
"You laugh a lot," Hermione noted.  
  
"I never noticed it, what with all the leering, sneering, smirking and trying to get Hagrid sacked," Ron said thoughtfully. I laughed even harder. I'd been expecting him to say another face gesture.  
  
"It's actually kind of cute," Harry said. I stopped laughing to stare at him, as did Hermione and Ron. "I said kind of."  
  
"Right," I said and needed help to get back up, "Is that their train?" Everyone turned to see the Hogwarts' Express chug-a-lugging (A/N: Chug-a- lug is not a word, as I well know. Private joke between my sister and I) into the station.  
  
"Right!" Ron said, looking even more nervous, "Here they come." The train slowed to a stop and out came several passengers. I didn't know what Bill or Ritzy looked like, so I kept an eye out for red hair. Then I saw them. Bill looked awesome. He had long hair. Probably about the same length as mine! He was wearing leather pants, which were extremely tight on him.  
  
How Ritzy snagged him is a mystery. For the girl he was holding hands with was the opposite of him. She had blonde hair to just past her shoulders. She was clad in a blouse with rolled up sleeves and a short green and red, plaid skirt with little ruffles on the end. (A/N: Think private school uniform).  
  
They looked horrible together! I couldn't believe my eyes. A moment later, the odd couple were making their way over to us.  
  
"Ronny!" Ritzy cried, throwing her arms around him in a tight embrace.  
  
"Ritzy!" Ron said, in barely any of the enthusiasm she'd used with him.  
  
"How are you?" she asked, pulling away.  
  
"Oh, terrific! How are you?"  
  
"Wonderful. Hermione. Still hanging around?" Ritzy asked, turning to her.  
  
"Yes," she replied, "Still with Bill, I see."  
  
"Oh yes," Ritzy said, "We're very happy." Bill slipped his arm around her waist. He let go and him and Ron shared at brotherly type hug, then Bill embraced Hermione and gave her a kiss on the forehead.  
  
"Harry, it's so lovely to see you," Ritzy said in an impossibly fake voice.  
  
"Oh, right back at you, Ritzy," Harry said.  
  
"I don't believe I've met you," she said, turning to me.  
  
"That's right, you haven't." She held out her hand.  
  
"I'm Ritzy," she said.  
  
"Obviously," I drawled, some of the old Draco coming back.  
  
"This is Bill, my fiance," she said.  
  
"Yes," I said, "I was aware of that as well."  
  
"Of course. So you're friends with my future brother-in-law?"  
  
"Er -"  
  
"Goodness. Another person who can never figure out what to say. Harry here always says "er". It's quite funny, actually," she explained, putting her arm around Harry. I was instantly jealous. I was also well aware of that little quirk about my crush. It was one thing I was quick to notice about Harry when I first met him.  
  
"Well of course, that's much worse than saying too much." Hermione gave me a thumbs-up sign behind Ritzy's back.  
  
"You're not one for manners, are you?"  
  
"No. A Malfoy never is," I admitted.  
  
"Malfoy?" she asked and raised her rather large eyebrows at me, "I've heard much about you."  
  
"Oh, I've heard things about *you*," I said.  
  
"Mostly good things, I hope."  
  
"Not really." Harry, Ron and Hermione looked like they were going to die from laughter.  
  
"Well, I haven't heard great stuff about you either," she said, defensively.  
  
"Not surprised. I truly am rather spoiled and snobby."  
  
"Draco, then?" Bill spoke up, stepping between the two of us and holding out his hand for me to shake it. I shook it in a rather formal manner.  
  
"Bill, then?" I echoed. Bill nodded as Ritzy opened her mouth.  
  
"Billthen? That's a funny word!" Ritzy commented. Hermione was holding onto Ron for support. I couldn't help it.  
  
"Excuse me," I said, turned around and burst out laughing. When I'd finished, I turned back around. "Truly sorry. Look, I don't want to start this off in a bad way. I'm Draco." I held out my hand for Ritzy and she took it.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Draco. So you attend Hogwarts?  
  
"Correct."  
  
"That's lovely. Bill and all his younger siblings went. I always thought it would have been great to go to Hogwarts."  
  
"Where'd you go?" Hermione asked. She was standing off to the side, her hand held in Ron's.  
  
"Beauxbatons."  
  
"So you speak French," Harry said. It wasn't even a question. Just an assumption.  
  
"No, actually, not a word." We all gave her odd looks except for Bill, but pushed it aside.  
  
"So Harry," Ritzy began, "Are you and Ginny still dating? I always thought you two were rather good together." Hermione and I locked gazes, before looking to Harry for his response.  
  
"Yes. Ginny and I are to be married." Bill walked right into a tree.  
  
"What!?" he demanded, "You're getting married!?"  
  
"Not to worry, Bill. I've already given him the 'hurt my sister and you die' lecture," Ron announced. Bill nodded.  
  
"How come Ginny didn't say anything?"  
  
"We were going to tell you together. She was so nervous about telling you today, she threw up all over the my bed." I smirked. Bill and Ron's eyes darted to Harry. "We weren't doing anything in the bed. And even if we were, we're engaged, so we should be allowed to do those things."  
  
"Is there something you're trying to tell us, Harry?" Ron demanded.  
  
"Yes.... I'm shagging your sister," Harry said, "Come on... we're a couple. We're allowed. I'm sure you and Hermione have." They suddenly looked uncomfortable.  
  
"You haven't?!" I asked in shock.  
  
"We're waiting until we're married. If it turns out we're not in love, then we won't have made a mistake," Hermione said.  
  
"We discussed it. There's no need to discuss it with you people," Ron said.  
  
"Well that was certainly interesting," Ritzy commented, "Draco... any girls in your life?"  
  
"Draco's gay," Ron said, with the air of one stating the date.  
  
"Really?" Bill and Ritzy asked together.  
  
"Yes," I replied.  
  
"Does your father know?" Bill inquired.  
  
"It's likely. But I haven't got an owl from him yet. Which is beginning to scare me." Hermione looked at me, confusion etched on every line of her face. I gave her a look that said we'd talk about it later.  
  
"Any boys in your life, then?" Ritzy asked after an uncomfortable silence.  
  
"Yes," I replied. Heads snapped to me in curiosity, "There are a few boys. Just flings, really." I didn't dare look at Harry.  
  
"Any names we'd know?" Ron asked.  
  
"Oh... well I rather like Seamus. And Colin's fun to be around. You're not so bad yourself," I admitted, swiftly looking at Bill.  
  
"Well, sorry mate. I'm straight as a post."  
  
"Those pants say otherwise," I drawled. His hands flew to the zipper of his pants.  
  
"Take off those sexy pants and the little guy they cover won't be getting some for awhile," Ritzy warned. Silence. I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. Another thing I couldn't help was grabbing onto Harry. He was closest and if I hadn't grabbed him, I would have fallen over. He didn't seem to notice, as he was laughing hysterically as well. I was aware that Ron and Hermione were laughing too. But I think I laughed the hardest and longest. We continued walking until we got on to the Hogwarts Grounds.  
  
"Well, we're going to Hagrid's," Ron said, "Want to come, Draco?"  
  
"No. I'm going to take a nap. See you at dinner!" I said and went back up to the school. I went through the front doors and into the Entrance Hall. Suddenly Pansy turned the corner. She saw me.  
  
"Draco!" she cried, running over. She grabbed my arm, "I was thinking. This must just be a phase. If you find the right girl, perhaps you won't think about men anymore. So I thought, I'm the closest thing to a woman around here. I'll show you that girls can be just as much fun as boys." Then she pressed her lips to mine. It wasn't that horrible. But seeing as it was a girl, I was rather uninterested. But I was too shocked to do anything. So she stood there kissing me for about ten seconds until I finally realized what we were doing, and pushed her away.  
  
"Pansy..." I said, giving her my worst glare, "Don't touch me!" She whipped her hands away from me. "Don't try and convert me, accept me for who I am! I'm only human, Pansy, I can't help being gay!"  
  
I could feel tears stinging my eyes. I didn't want to cry in front of her, but I was getting emotional. This was the one thing I'd been worried about when the school found out I was gay.  
  
I wasn't worried about people beating me up, or muttering about me, or making fun of me. They can do that if they want to. But I didn't want people telling me that how I felt was wrong, and try to change who I am. It can't be changed. I'm just not attracted to females. I know I never will be. So I grabbed Pansy by each side of her face.  
  
"Why can't you accept that I'm gay?" I demanded, "I'm not any different. I'd just rather be with men. Why can't you just understand that I'd rather be with my own gender?" Pansy's blue eyes spilled over with tears, and she bit her lip.  
  
"Because I love you," she whispered, just loud enough for me to hear it. Nothing she could have said would have suprised me more. She could have told me Snape was wearing a tutu, dancing around the halls of Hogwarts. She could have told me Voldemort was sipping tea with Dumbledore. She could have told me Mcgonagall was pregnant by Harry, and I still wouldn't have been as suprised as I was now.  
  
It had occured to me Pansy might fancy me, but I always figured it was a silly infatuation. But I realized by the look in her eyes, and the sincerity in her voice, that she loved me like I loved Harry. And I pitied her for it. She couldn't have me, just as I couldn't have Harry. I felt horrible about treating her like trash this year. She'd been in love with me, and I hadn't even picked up on it. I knew exactly how she felt.  
  
"Pansy," I said, much calmer than the last time I'd spoken her name, "I'm so sorry." Tears were streaking down her face like currents of running water. I felt so bad. A huge sob escaped her throat and suddenly I was crying too.  
  
"I've loved you since we were six!" she cried. Our parents had been friends when we were younger. We'd been good friends until our sixth year, when Hermione and I had become friends, and she'd decided to insult Hermione in front of me. Now I realized she might have been jealous of Hermione. I felt rotten.  
  
"I swear if I'd known..."  
  
"What?" she asked, her voice cold, "You wouldn't have turned gay?"  
  
"Well of course not. I can't help being gay. But we could have at least.... I don't know. I'm sorry. I had no idea." Pansy stared into my eyes.  
  
"You don't know how gorgeous you are. How kind, thoughtful, smart, funny, amazing, and wonderful you are. You're perfect, Draco. And I love you for it."  
  
I put my face close to hers.  
  
"Pansy...." I started, "I don't know what to tell you. I wish things had turned out differently."  
  
"It doesn't matter," she said in a rather tiny voice.  
  
"Yes it does. I feel horrible! This is the kind of thing I've been fretting over for the past year. I've been obsessed with a guy, and he doesn't like me back." Pansy's eyes searched mine.  
  
"Well he doesn't know what he's missing. If you liked me, I'd give you everything you wanted," Pansy said. I smiled sadly.  
  
"Pansy..." I started.  
  
"Who is it?" she asked.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Who do you like. Who's the guy idiotic enough to pass you up?" she demanded. I knew I couldn't lie to her.  
  
"Harry."  
  
"Potter has a chance with you?" she said and before I could explain the situation she continued, "Well that's more than I've got. I hope it works out. I hope Potter understands how special you are." A tear that had been hanging from her eyelashes finally fell. "I love you, Draco. I always will." I kissed her on the top of her head, and a few stray tears dropped onto her hair.  
  
"I apologize...." I whispered, "I've been utterly unfair to you."  
  
"Enough." A small laugh emerged from her throat. She kissed the corner of my mouth. "You didn't know," she said and began to back away from me, "Maybe next time I'll take the hints in front of me. The looks you gave Potter.... the ones you never gave me.... I love you...." She fled the hall, back toward the dungeons.  
  
I stood there, staring after her. I heard voices behind me and turned to see who they belonged to. Harry, Ron and Hermione were walking into the school. They stopped when they saw me there.  
  
"Draco?" Hermione said, "Hagrid wanted to catch up with Bill and Ritzy. So we came back and - are you all right?" I shook my head. She gave me a concerned look.  
  
"What's wrong?" Ron asked.  
  
"I am so blind...." Hermione stepped forward.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"I'm horrible."  
  
"No you're not," she said, rushing forward, "What in the world happened to you?" My next words were drowned out by my tears, so I doubt they were discernable.  
  
"She loved me!"  
  
"I'll see you two later. Draco and I need to have a talk. Bye!" Hermione said and she steered me away from Ron and Harry, pushing me off to somewhere else. And I didn't care where. I just clutched to Hermione as she dragged me off.  
  
I was aaware of wetness on my forehead. I opened my eyes and groaned. Hermione was pressing a washcloth to my head.  
  
"Oh good...." she said, "You're awake. You blacked out. I think it was stress or something. What happened to you?" I sat up, because I'd been lying on the floor of the Potions classroom.  
  
"I was going to the Slytherin common room, and Pansy came over. She told me that she's loved me since we were really little. I told her that I was gay and couldn't be with her. I told her that I love Harry...." Hermione was sitting cross-legged in front of me.  
  
"Pansy loves you?" she asked.  
  
"Apparently. At least, that's what she said. The way she said it.... I know it's true. It's horrible because I feel the same way about Harry."  
  
"What did you tell her?"  
  
"That I was sorry... and that I wished things had gone better. Then she said she hoped I got Harry."  
  
"Well that was very big of her," Hermione noted, "I always thought of Pansy as a sort of succubus. But I guess after I discovered your crush on Harry, I shoudl have realized all Slytherins are capable of love. Now I feel bad for her. She must have been heartbroken."  
  
"I hope we can still be friends."  
  
"So do I, Draco."  
  
"I mean.... I know exactly how she feels. I adore Harry and he doesn't even like me back -"  
  
"As to that," Hermione interrupted, "Don't be so sure. When you mentioned the other guys you're interested in, he didn't seem to pleased. And when you flirted with Bill -"  
  
"I wasn't flirting with Bill!"  
  
"Suit yourself. When you were talking to Bill about his pants and saying you fancied him, Harry looked somewhat annoyed. I wouldn't give up quite yet, Draco. Don't get your hopes up, but don't let your hopes down. Anything can happen at Hogwarts. If you don't figure that out while you're here, you won't be living properly." I smiled at Hermione.  
  
"Your intelligence never ceases to amaze me, Hermione."  
  
"Yes... that's about right," she said and we smiled.  
  
"Mind telling me why we're here of all places?" I inquired.  
  
"Well, it was the closest thing to us when you fainted."  
  
"Right. What time is it?"  
  
"Probably sometimes between four and half-past."  
  
"Okay," I said, nodding my head, "Want to get some tea? I need something to drink."  
  
"Sure." We set off together.  
  
*  
  
"Here," I said, holding up a grape, "Try and catch it in your mouth." Colin opened his mouth. I threw it and it bounced off his teeth. He laughed.  
  
"It'a too hard," he said in resignation.  
  
"Not it's not." I tossed one up and the air and caught it cleanly in my mouth.  
  
"Practice makes perfect, right?" he said and tried again, as Harry and Hermione sat in front of us. I'd taken to sitting at the Gryffindor table, as my only friends sat there.  
  
"How are you?" Hermione asked groggily.  
  
"Good," Colin and I said in unison. We looked at each other and giggled.  
  
"You sound cheerful," Harry said grumpily, pouring himself a mug of coffee. He sipped it and his face became brighter, "Coffee... the source of every good day. Did you know, there are over a hundred and fifty different kinds of coffee beans?" (A/N: Too lazy to see if that's true).  
  
"Isn't that lovely.... a little bird is rambling incessantly," Colin said brightly, looking around the room. Hermione hid her smile behind a pear.  
  
"The difference between you and I, Colin, is that I've got a little thing called maturity," Harry said.  
  
"That, and even he's taller than you," I said, tossing another grape in my mouth.  
  
"Shut it, you," he said, scowling at me. I grinned, half a grape stuck between my teeth.  
  
"So... think any more wild and crazy things could happen right at this moment?" Colin asked. He'd heard about the Pansy situation from me.  
  
"Never say things like that, Colin," I warned, "Life is out to prove you wrong. I don't want to be the tool life uses to teach you that lesson."  
  
"I'll just direct it to Harry."  
  
"Ha ha," he said, gulping down some more coffee.  
  
"So... what's this Ritzy like?" Colin asked.  
  
"Don't say anything!" I shouted quickly at Hermione and Harry. They'd both opened their mouths to begin a rant. But lately, all I'd heard was complaints about Ritzy. I didn't want to hear more. "I don't care if Ritzy stuffs her bra and her hair is a wig. I don't give a damn if she talks in her sleep. And I really don't want to hear about her sex talks." I picked up a grape.  
  
"But -"  
  
"No!" I warned. There was silence for a minute, while I popped a couple grapes in my mouth, Harry drank more coffee, Hermione read more 'Life in the Fancy' and Colin ate a hash brown.  
  
"But yesterday Ritzy told me -" Harry didn't get any further before I chucked the bowl of grapes at his head. Thankfully, he ducked. Instead of colliding with his large head, it crashed against the floor.  
  
"Draco!" Hermione shouted, looking up from her book, "Oh forget it. I can't be bothered to deal with you now. I have to finish this book!"  
  
"Isn't it such a good book?" I said.  
  
"Quite," Hermione agreed, "Here, listen to this." Harry, Colin and I listened as she read a passage from the book. " 'Many people thought of Jake and Doug as the model couple. They walked from shop to shop, hand in hand, never worrying what the rest of the world thought. They window shopped mostly. But once in awhile, Jake would see something cute and fluffy, and he'd be forced to buy it.' "  
  
"That's cute," the three of us said together. Hermione grinned.  
  
"I love that he's got a soft spot for stuffed animals!" I said, "To be quite honest, so do I." Hermione, Colin and Harry stared at me, shocked.  
  
"You like stuffed animals?" Colin demanded.  
  
"Sort of," I replied, realizing that I'd said way too much.  
  
"*That's* cute," Hermione said, pointing a stick of bacon at me.  
  
"What kind of stuffed animals?" Harry asked, mouth full of eggs.  
  
"Oh... bunnies, kittens, puppies, teddy bears, but my favourite is the stuffed whale I got for my birthday when I was nine. Pansy got it for me, actually." It went silent, except for the other people in the hall, and it seemed to get uncomfortable. "So Colin," I said, reciting the lines we'd planned, "Any new guys in your life?" See Colin and I were joining together to put a stop to Ginny and Harry's relationship. So we planned to do some flirting in front of Harry. See if it got a reaction.  
  
"Well..." Colin said, pulling his hand through my hair. I froze, "You'll do just fine." Then he started kissing me. *That* wasn't part of the plan! But I was enjoying his tongue probing my mouth (and this was *Colin* probing my mouth!), digging into little crevices and running it along my bottom teeeth.  
  
Even if it wasn't Harry kissing me, it was a guy. So it was fun anyway, and it did indeed get me aroused. Not When-I-Look-At-Harry aroused, but the Get-Kissed-By-A-Guy aroused. I actually moaned. Softly, though, and I'm sure no one except Colin heard it. Merde! I couldn't believe Colin was kissing me in front of Harry and Hermione. *And he was good at it!*  
  
"Get a room," Harry, not Hermione, said. Harry, who was ALWAYS snogging Ginny. Colin and I pulled away, and Colin smirked at me.  
  
"Wow!" I said, drinking half a cup of water, "You're amazing, Colin! Where'd you learn to snog like that?"  
  
"Oh.... practice."  
  
"On people?"  
  
"No on dolls. Yes people." I grinned, and snickered a bit.  
  
"I think you're my best kisser ever!" I lied. Harry muttered something I didn't hear, and Hermione gave him a skeptical look, "Even better than Alex. He was amazing. And not just at kissing."  
  
Hermione looked amused, "Our Draco isn't a virgin! Well Jesus, Mary, Joseph! Was this Alex your first?"  
  
"No. My first was with a girl named Belinda. We were neighbours. She was hot! Well.... actually, I'm not one to judge, since I'm gay. But I wasn't gay at the time so....." I stopped, and started again, "What I mean is, she made me realize that I wasn't attracted to girls. Sex with girls just didn't excite me."  
  
"But sex with men did?" Harry asked curiously.  
  
"Um, yes."  
  
"So you've slept with this Alex?" he asked.  
  
"I didn't sleep with him. I had sex with him. Two very different things," I said.  
  
"I see. So you and Colin really are dating, then? No joke?"  
  
"That's right, we're dating," I said, hooking my arm with Colin's. Hermione smirked.  
  
"Um...." Harry said, getting to his feet, "I should go wake up Ron. Or he'll never get some breakfast in him. Cheers." He walked away.  
  
"He stole 'cheers' from me!" I said indignantly.  
  
"Forget about that! Did you see that!? Harry was seething with anger when you two kissed. You guys are so good at acting. It was rather fun to watch as well. You were really going at it. And that moan! Oh Draco, Harry's expression was priceless. I thought Harry was going to sock you, Colin." Hermione was practically bouncing with happiness.  
  
"And that's a good thing?" Colin inquired, smiling.  
  
"Was that planned?" she demanded, ignoring his question.  
  
"No. But I threw it in for a litte spice," said the kid I suddenly felt I'd truly underestimated. Colin beamed. "Were you serious about me being your best kiss?"  
  
"No. Sorry mate," I said, "Harry's the best." Hermione's eyes grew wide.  
  
"You know what he said when you told us Colin was your best kisser!? He said, 'What about me?' That's a good sign, Draco!" I found myself fighting an uncontrollable smile.  
  
"Well... that does sound good. But nothing's set in stone. He still has to figure it for himself. That's going to be tough. I'm not sure he wants to figure it out. Until then.... Colin, buddy! Up for a bit of snogging?"  
  
  
  
All right!!!!! Finally! That took for ever!!!! Well, what did you think?!?!? Mwahahahahaha! Colin and Draco's slashy kiss! Hey! It was slash! I did promise you slash! I'm going to do some running before you all kill me. Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews. Now go ahead and leave one for this chapter! And don't ever let the H/D spirit die!!! Never!!!  
  
So... what did you think of the Pansy/Draco issue? I had absolutely NO idea that was going to be written. I got to the part before she says she loves him and I thought it was perfect for the story. So I'm sorry if I disgusted you all with that horrid Pansy/Draco kiss. It had to be done.  
  
Please excuse any spelling mistakes I may have in this chapter. I'm sick today and don't feel like reading it over. My head hurts muchos and I'm taking a huge risk sitting in front of my computer. I just hope I don't throw up all over it! Anyways! Next chapter should be up in awhile. And I'm not kidding here.... NO SLASH!!! Hope you can deal with that!  
  
Um.... I forgot to do this last time, so.... Happy New Year!!!!!  
  
Tine 


	8. Free As A Bird

Chapter 8  
  
Disclaimer: Seven chapters and you *still* haven't figured it out? I really don't own Harry Potter or any of the other characters in this story. The plot of this rather sorry fanfic belongs to me, but the actual true plot of Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. So stop sending your lawyers to me, Jo!  
  
Rating: R  
  
Author's Note: Oh my God! 100 reviews!!! There aren't enough words in the English language to describe the feeling I have right now! Thank you everyone!!!! You're all very special!!!! Your reviews make me so happy. I can't seem to describe how amazing it is to log onto FF.Net and find I've recieved more reviews. It's inspirational. I got too many review to respond to all of your reviews, but if you would like me too reply to yours, give me your email, and I'll try to.  
  
Thanks to: Ladyblondhair, mnemosyne, Kay, Tomoyo no Miko, Katie of Gryffindor, LadyDeath, Katy Kinneas, Diartemis, Diamond Angel, Merlin, Belle, Cyber, Kleam Copacabana, Vespertilious-Flower, Rarity 88, Lenwe Arcamenel, Sydney Pima, throbbing-squirm, Jubilee, a, Transcendence, Cherry- Bay, neversaynever, Emi, Dilly's girl, FlamingFaerieOfDarkness, Ryan-sama, Hitomi Fanel.  
  
That may not seem like a lot of people (I certainly think it's more than I deserve!) but to me it is plenty. And you all wrote me such wonderful, interesting, long, funny, entertaining reviews that would make the response part of this chapter longer than the actual chapter. But if you'd like a response, drop me a line. XOXOXOX!! That you so much for the reviews! They are truly grand! Thanks to Klea, neversaynever, Phoebe, and Nox for adding me to their favourites lists.  
  
I do have to thank FlamingFairieOfDarkness, for the wonderful review in which you said I was one of the two best authors on FF.Net, and for getting excited during my chapter. I was excited too.  
  
Okay. Enough rambling to all of you about how wonderful you are. Now I'm going to ramble about this chapter. This one is my favourite. So much happens in it and I know you're all going to love it. Although there won't be any slash, there's still a lot of stuff I'm positive you'll appreciate. So! Without further ado.... let me present to you chapter 8 of Know Your Enemy.  
  
  
  
It happened yesterday. I started wondering if I was quite old enough to be getting married. Snape knocked the doubt into my mind. He stopped me in the corridor and asked whether I'd thought about anything. Like where Ginny and I would be living, what career path I'd be choosing, what financial decisions I'd be making. Those adult things.  
  
And that's when I realized there were only four months until my eighteenth birthday. And only two months until I graduated from Hogwarts. And all those adult things... they'd apply to me as well.  
  
I got very nervous, very fast. I hadn't even thought about buying my own place (because of course I'd have to), let alone a place big enough for Ginny AND myself. What was I going to do about food? And furniture and clothing and entertainment?  
  
So I wondered 'How am I going to physically, emotionally and financially support Ginny if I don't get a job?' I also wondered 'How expensive will the wedding be, and will I be able to afford that and a house?' And I wondered 'Why the hell am I getting married, when I don't even know if I really want to in the first place?'  
  
Because I'd begun to really think about it. And was I ready to get married? Was I marrying the right person? I'd only been with Ginny a year and a bit. Was that enough to be considered love? Was it even love?  
  
Well you could imagine how muddled up my head was. And there was Ron at my heels, going on about who I was going to invite to the wedding. There wa Hermione, who was bantering on about true love. There was Ginny, who wouldn't shut up about the music we were going to play at the wedding. And Draco wouldn't say anything at all about it, and that was somehow worse.  
  
Draco wasn't coming to the wedding. Apparently he was busy on the twentieth of June. I was annoyed, but everyone told me to just forget about it. I guess I was wondering why Draco would want to miss his friend's wedding. But whatever the reason, I wanted him there and the fact that he wouldn't be, made me furious.  
  
It was at least a week after the Easter holidays, and Ritzy and Bill hadn't left Hogwarts yet. Ron said it was because Ritzy felt there was still some unfinished business to tend to. So we were waiting.  
  
Meanwhile, Zabini seemed intent on driving Draco mad. It certainly looked like it was working.  
  
"Have you seen Zabini this morning?" Draco asked, darting into the queue between Hermione and I. It was time to for another Hogsmeade visit.  
  
"No, why?"  
  
"I can't take it anymore!" Draco exploded, his face flushed with anger, "Everywhere I look, everywhere I go, there he is. Going on about the will of God. He says he's going to teach me how to be a proper Christian." Hermione looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh, but the situation was rather funny.  
  
"Oh Draco, just let him get on with it," she said.  
  
"He wants to read the bible to me," Draco explained.  
  
I laughed, "Is that really so bad?"  
  
"Yesterday, he read the passage in which it says gay people should be stoned to death. Then he threw a stone at me," he said, with a very straight face. Hermione was biting the sleeve of her jumper, trying not to laugh.  
  
"That's not cool," I said, "He's trying to stone you to death?"  
  
"No. He said it was just a taste of what I'd get in Hell if I didn't repent."  
  
"Blaise Zabini?" Hermione demanded, "The same Blaise Zabini that is in my Potions class? He doesn't seem at all religious. Blaise Zabini!?" She sounded doubtful.  
  
"That's the thing," Draco said, "He wasn't always like that. In fact, I thing he's gay in denial. But his very religious uncle sent him to a bible camp last summer when his mum died. And I suppose they must have told him God hates homosexuals. Now he's crazy religious. It's starting to scare me."  
  
"A bible camp did that to him?"  
  
"I think it was a colt," Draco said, in a very honest tone.  
  
"Eh, who knows," Hermione said, "My Grannie Hannie was in a colt. They're really dangerous, and Zabini did try to kill you."  
  
"Moving off the depressing topic on to a slightly lighter one..." I said, in a cheery voice, "Please come to the wedding!"  
  
"I can't," Draco said, "I'm sorry." I glared ahead as the seventh years began moving out the doors of the school, toward the gates.  
  
"Ginny says she wants a five layer cake, each layer a different flavor," I said, "Does she think I'm loaded or something? If that's just the cake... imagine the rest of the ceremony. Jesus!"  
  
"I'll help pay for it," Draco offered.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yeah. I mean.... it's the least I can do, since I'm not going. I doubt I'm getting married anyway, so I'll help pay for a friend's." Hermione looked indignant.  
  
"What about my wedding?" she demanded.  
  
"I'll buy you and Ron a house," Draco replied.  
  
"I wasn't trying to suggest Ron and I would be getting married -" Hermione protested.  
  
"Yeah well, I was," Draco answered, with a note of finality in his voice. "I'll pay for the dress and tuxedo rentals. Or if you decide to buy them. Whatever. I'll pay for the refreshments too."  
  
"Oh Draco, you don't have to," I said. It would be rather awkward.  
  
"Nonsense!" Draco snapped, "I want to."  
  
"Wait, what do you mean you doubt you'll be getting married?"  
  
"Well.... I mean.... you only get one soulmate, right? What are the chances I'll find him? I'd say one in a million," he replied. Draco, Hermione and I set off for the Three Broomsticks. Ron had a detention but he was going to meet up with us there.  
  
"Well yeah but who says you have to marry your soulmate?" I asked.  
  
"If I get married, it'll be to my soulmate," Draco said. Well, that was certainly an interesting thought. Was Ginny my soulmate? Did *I* want to marry my soulmate. Well, sure. But like Draco said, what were the chances I'd even find them?  
  
"I think I've found my soulmate," Hermione said suddenly.  
  
"Aww. That's so cute," Draco said, pinching her cheek. She swatted at him and blushed. "Well.... Ron doesn't seem like a very appealing soulmate."  
  
"Oh yeah? Can you think of someone better?" she inquired.  
  
"Yeah," Draco sighed, and kicked a pebble along the ground.  
  
"Well, there it is. Let's go get some butterbeers," I said, sensing the discomfort.  
  
"Okay," Draco and Hermione agreed. We entered the tavern and ordered some drinks. Sitting at a booth, we starting chatting about the wedding.  
  
"Can I be the maid of honour?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Isn't that a question you should be asking Ginny?"  
  
"Whatever," she replied, shrugging her shoulders.  
  
"Well, if it's up to me, sure. But ask Ginny just in case. She's the kind of girl who could get seriously angry at me for saying yes without consulting her," I said. Hermione nodded.  
  
"I'm going to the bathroom," Draco said, "You know what.... girls always ask other girls to go to the bathroom with them. But if a guy were to ask another guy to go with them, it would seem sort of gay. Well, I'm the gayest person here.... so how would you like to join me in the bathroom, Harry?"  
  
"I'll pass," I replied.  
  
"Oh all right...." Draco said, "It was worth a try." He turned and set off for the bathroom. I found myself very interested in the sway of Draco's hips and.... ahem!  
  
"You know, Harry," Hermione said, "It truly looks like you're checking Draco out."  
  
"I'm not!" I shouted indignantly. Hermione smirked knowingly and raised her tankard to clink it against mine.  
  
"Whatever you say, Harry."  
  
"Hey mates!" Ron said, slipping into the booth beside Hermione, "God, detention sucks."  
  
"Well if you just did your homework once in awhile...."  
  
"Quiet, Hermione. Please. I've just sat through an hour of McGonagall lecturing me. I don't need it from you."  
  
"Oh you're horrible," Hermione said, elbowing him in the ribs.  
  
"Yes I am," Ron agreed, "I'm also very thirsty. So get me a drink, Droolface!"  
  
"Dollface," I corrected.  
  
"No," he said, "No, it's definitely Droolface."  
  
"Oh shut up and get your own damn drink," Hermione yelled. Ron half stuck his tongue out at her and went to get one from Madam Rosmerta. He got it and came back, and we managed to strike up a conversation before Draco finally got back.  
  
"What were you doing in there?" I demanded curiously.  
  
"Well Potter," Draco drawled, "What do *you* do in the bathroom, besides wank?" Ron snickered and gave Draco a high five as he sat beside me. I bet I blushed like a stop sign.  
  
"I just meant, what took you so long?"  
  
"Well I had to put my make-up on, of course," Draco replied, draining his mug and slamming it down on the table.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, " I muttered, "Shut up, you smart mouthed snob."  
  
"That I am," he agreed, flipping his hair behind his shoulder. He truly had long hair.  
  
"Do you ever cut your hair?" I asked.  
  
"Not often. When did the subject change from snobs to my hair?"  
  
"Just now, you snob."  
  
"I'm disgusted! How could you call me such a thing!?"  
  
"You just said -" I began.  
  
"Wow, you're gullible..." he teased. I grumbled, looking around at all the students.  
  
"Hey guys!" Parvarti cried, stepping up to our table, "Have you heard....?"  
  
*  
  
"So I was thinking," Ginny began, while my attention drifted to Draco. He was sitting at the Slytherin table, talking to Pansy. It was a well known fact that Draco and Pansy were friends again.  
  
Another well known fact: Colin and Draco were very open with their relationship. They were ALWAYS snogging. It was driving me mad. But I'm sure it was annoying other people too. The two of them kissing every minute of the day.  
  
I watched as Draco laughed at something that was obviously funny to him. Pansy had her back to me and Draco was sitting on the other side of the table, across from her.  
  
"If Draco is so interesting, why don't you go marry him?" Ginny demanded, after she'd turned to see what I was so enthralled with.  
  
"Ginny," I whined, "I don't want to marry Draco. I want to marry *you*. Could you please stop acting like I don't."  
  
"I'm starting to think you don't want to." I turned my attention to her, studying her face contently.  
  
"Jesus!" I swore, "When did you get so irritating?" Ginny looked startled at my outburst.  
  
"I - I was just -" She stopped in mid-sentence, unable to continue. Then she gathered her books together, scrambled up from her seat and glared at me. "You've got some issues you have to deal with. Once you've dealt with them, you can come back and see me. At the moment, you don't want me around. I'll be waiting." Then she walked off, snapping at Colin as she went.  
  
It didn't take me long to realize I was not exactly devastated by this occurrence.  
  
*  
  
I ambled toward the Astronomy Tower, stopping as I reached the door. Hearing voices, I paused and listened. That was Ritzy!  
  
"All do respect, Miss Soon-To-Be-Weasley," came Zabini's ice cold voice, "But how dare you make this your business."  
  
"Well of course it's my business!" Ritzy snapped, "You've been beating on my fiance's brother's friend. That's Draco. You really have no right in laying even a finger on him."  
  
"But it's not God's will -" Zabini shot back.  
  
"All do respect, Mr Zabini," Ritzy cut in, "But how dare you decide what is God's will."  
  
"I - well, I - come again?"  
  
"Well does God tell you these things personally? Does he sit down with you and rant on about gays and lesbians being sinners?" Stepping into the tower, I caught a glimse of Zabini's face. He looked quite shocked. His face suddenly changed, and he looked defeated. Then he grasped Ritzy's hand.  
  
"There are some people I'd love you to meet....." Zabini said, "My uncle, for one. He's tried to convince me that being gay is wrong..... these are the words I needed to hear. They are the very same words *he* needs to hear." I quickly turned and walked out of the room.  
  
After all, it was a very personal moment indeed.  
  
*  
  
"Ginny, I'm sorry," I said, pacing back and forth, reciting what I'd say when the time actually came to apologize. The only problem was.... I didn't *feel* sorry. And I really thought that this was one time where I actually had to be sorry in order to be able to say so to Ginny. That's how I felt.  
  
So I was pacing the dormitory, going over in my mind what would be taking place in about ten minutes. I was very nervous. Who knew what could happen in ten minutes?  
  
"I wish I could.... no, that's not going to work." I turned around and found Ron observing me. I smiled, feeling rather embarassed. "I'm just practicing."  
  
"That's fine," Ron said, "Do go on."  
  
"Oh.... well all right," I said, pacing some more, "Ginny, I'm very sorry for happening to look over at my friend during our conversation. Next time I'll try and control my wandering eyes. Oh bugger. Even in my head that sounds completely stupid. Why should I be sorry for looking at Draco?"  
  
"You want come advice, Harry?" Ron asked. I nodded, "Okay. Well, I'm going to give you some valuable information. Listen carefully. Women never really tell you the whole story."  
  
"Right....."  
  
"No, no, no, listen. Women never tell you the entire story. You always have to guess what's really bothering them, because they're not going to tell you. If they do, you're getting off easy."  
  
"Is this going somewhere?" I asked.  
  
"Yeah it is. Shut up and listen. So let's say Hermione wants me to shake hands with her parents on the platform at the end of this year. What she really wants me to do, is come over for dinner and perhaps sleep on the couch overnight."  
  
"I don't see what this -"  
  
"Shut your trap and listen to what I have to say!" Ron yelled.  
  
"Okay," I replied quickly.  
  
"Thank you. Look..... this thing with Ginny. She's not mad because you looked at Draco. It's something deeper. Now don't ask me what it is..... I haven't a clue. But take that into consideration when you're apologizing to her."  
  
"That's your advice?"  
  
"Hey, it's the best you're gonna get from me," Ron answered. I socked him on the shoulder and we shared a hug. "I'm going now. Hermione and I are going to do some homework."  
  
"Oh, fun."  
  
"That's right," Ron said, "And don't you forget it." He started for the door to the dormitories.  
  
"Oh Ron," I called after him.  
  
"Yes?" he said, turning to me.  
  
"Would you be angry if Ginny and I didn't get married?" I asked.  
  
"Honestly? No.... I wouldn't be angry. Harry, do you really think I want the Boy-Who-Lived marrying my little sister?"  
  
"Um.... no?"  
  
"You get the grand prize," Ron said in this very blank voice. I laughed and Ron went for the door again.  
  
"Hello Ron," Ginny said, coming into the dormitory.  
  
"Oh...... hey," he said, gave me a sympathetic glance, and ran down the stairs to the common room.  
  
"Um.... how was lunch?" I asked.  
  
"It was fine," Ginny replied.  
  
"That's good."  
  
"Yes." We were both silent for a moment. "Oh.... Harry, we need to talk."  
  
"I agree."  
  
"Good. Come sit with me over here," Ginny requested, and we both sat down on my bed, facing each other.  
  
"What do you want to talk about?" I asked.  
  
"Us," she replied.  
  
"Oh.... okay."  
  
"Yeah. I've been thinking about it for the past three days. And while I'm madly in love with you....." Ginny said, taking my hands in hers, "You don't feel the same way about me."  
  
"Yes I do -"  
  
"No..... you don't. And that's okay! I've known it for months.... I just didn't want to believe it."  
  
"I -" I started.  
  
"No. Let me talk. Don't interrupt. You can say things when I'm finished, but just be silent while I'm explaining. I think you're not really in love with me. And while that breaks my heart, I know it's breaking yours to stay with me every single day. So I pretend like I don't know. But I do. I can tell with every breath you take and every move you make. It just doesn't say 'I'm in love with Ginny.' It does, however, say 'I'm in love'. But with whom, I have a feeling you're unaware."  
  
"Ginny, wait -"  
  
"No. I'm going to finish. You see... I've known that you're not in love with me since we had that fight. The one where you decided not to say anything when I told you I loved you. When you apologized, something was nagging me. I should have realized that you didn't love me. But I had hope."  
  
"Then you told me you did love me. I knew it wasn't true. But the fact that you'd said so gave me even more hope, so I just kept pretending you did. And as things went on... I got caught up in everything. Then finally, the day I'd been dreaming about since I was ten, came along. You proposed to me. And I loved you. So I said yes. But something just didn't add up."  
  
"I figured it out the day the school found out Draco was gay. I wanted to go by the lake before classes with you..... and you said no. That was the first time you'd ever said no to something like that. And I realized you actually wanted to be with Draco. As the day went on, I forgot about it and decided you just wanted to be with your friend -"  
  
"And I did!" I interrupted.  
  
"Yes, yes. So I pretended like nothing was happening to our relationship. But something was. Because you didn't love me. And pretending you love something or someone can make a situation a lot crazier than it should ever be."  
  
"Basically, Harry, you're just attracted to the passion of our relationship. It's the lust. And I don't want to be in a lust relationship. So I don't think we should get married."  
  
"You're breaking up with me?!" I asked, my voice getting slightly high- pitched. I was shocked!  
  
"To put it harshly, yes. You're important to me, and God knows I love you.... but I can't keep pretending that I'm not noticing this. Harry..... you're in love with Draco. It's *so* obvious and rather unattractive that you're ignoring it. So get yourself down to the Slytherin common room, or wherever Draco hangs out, and you tell him that you love him. Or I'll take you there myself, and WATCH you tell him."  
  
"I - what - I can't -" I spluttered, completely stunned, "Oh Jesus! I don't love Draco!"  
  
"Yes you do. Don't you fucking lie to me, Harry! I know you love Draco, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'll find someone that loves me, don't you worry. But I figure.... you only get one soulmate..... and if you find them, why in the world would you give them up?" That wa familair. And for some reason, when Ginny swore, it made me listen. "Oh go get him, Harry. Because I KNOW he loves you back."  
  
"Okay!" I said, suddenly feeling extremely excited and nervous at the same time. I was getting somewhat of an adrenaline (A/N: I cannot say that word! It's SO annoying!) rush. I jumped up from the bed, threw my arms around Ginny and dashed toward the door. "Wish me luck!"  
  
"Good luck," Ginny said, "Oh and Harry! If you want more proof that you're in love with Draco, then I suggest you listen to this." I turned around and looked at her. "The other day when we were kissing, and you thought you were moaning my name. Well you weren't.... you were calling me Draco."  
  
Complete silence.  
  
"So go get him!" Ginny yelled, smiling widely at me. I blushed furiously and ran out of there as fast as I could. I couldn't believe it!!! But where in the world was Draco Malfoy? Did I have something to tell him!  
  
  
  
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! Didn't I tell you you'd love this chapter!!??!!?!?!? AND there was no slash!!!!!!!! Oh I'm so evil. That's a cliffhanger if I ever saw one. But you loved that, didn't you? I ended their relationship on good terms (and you ALL saw it coming), and Zabini isn't such a bad guy after all. (Yes he is... just you wait).  
  
Can you believe it!!!!???? 100 reviews!! And all because of you wonderful people, you! Now review!!!!!  
  
Anything else to say? Let me think. Well, I really loved writing this chapter. It's my favourite so far. Well, we'll see. Next chapter up soon, seeing as I've already written some of it.  
  
I wanted to say that one of the reasons I even got this chapter done was because of David Bowie. He is such an amazing singer/songwriter. If I didn't have his album, this chapter wouldn't have gotten written. So you all thank David Bowie now. Because he's a musical genius. You should all download the song 'Life on Mars' by him. It's the most inspiratinal song I've ever heard. And while I wrote this chapter, I was listening to it nonstop. Okay.... enough of that.  
  
Words of wisdom!  
  
"We can't just stand here staring at our hands all day! Or can we?" -Homer  
  
"You know they call them fingers, but have you ever seen them fing? Oh - there they go." -Otto  
  
~The Simpsons.  
  
That's the episode where Homer has to take medicinal marijuana. I saw that a week ago, and I was laughing hysterically. It's now my favourite episode of any TV show in national television history. What an amazing episode. Hilarious!!!  
  
Sorry! I felt like telling you that. I'm seeing 'Lord of the Rings' again tomorrow. What an awesome movie. Can't wait! AND I saw 'The Royal Tenenbaums' today. What a fascinating movie. If you've not yet seen that movie, go watch it as soon as possible. It was so brilliant. And if you HAVE seen it, then let me know what you thought. 8-)  
  
Happy January 17th! Oh WOW!!! It's the 18th now!!! It's two o'clock in the morning!!!! Very cool! That's something to celebrate!!!  
  
Well..... must be going to be now...... very tired, what with all the writing. Ciao!  
  
Tine 


	9. The Little Things

Chapter 9 (WOW!!!)  
  
Disclaimer: Is the sky purple? Nope. Can you polka the salsa? No..... Am I a good writer? Of course not. So do I own Harry Potter? NO!!! So stop asking, damn it! JK Rowling owns it. (It's in my nature to put myself down. Don't be angry that I'm doing it. It's instinct).  
  
Rating: R  
  
Author's Note: Yippeeeeee!!!! Harry's figured it out, Harry's figured it out, Harry figured it out!!!! Aren't you all ecstatic?! They're sure to get together in this chapter. Well, of course. I was going to have someone get in the way, but I figured you'd kill me.  
  
Lots of slashy kisses in this chapter. What? Oh, between who? Um..... Snape and Harry. Yes, I decided they should be together. No, really. I'm putting them together. I was thinking it would add an interesting twist.  
  
Um.... I think you'd all seriously kill me if I did that. So, duh!!! Of course it's between Harry and Draco. You'd probably stop reading this fic if I didn't put some slash in this chapter. I had to do a lot of thinking the past couple days. So this chapter may not be perfect, but I did try. Hope you like it. 8-)  
  
And another thing..... thank you for bringing my review count to a hundred and forty two. It truly is spectacular. I'm beyond happy to have so many reviews. I hope you know how amazing you all are. Thank you SO much. The response part of this is very long. 8-)  
  
Especially: Emi (You're not evil, everyone who reads this story hates Ginny and wants them to break up. Hell, I do. They're over now, though, thank God. Glad I wrote Ginny cool about it, I was kinda going for that. Percy.... not cool? I think he's cool. Slashy goodness in this chap? Well that depends. How much do you want it? Heh. Yes, there will be. *Blushes madly* Thanks. That means a lot), a (You updated!!!!! YES!! Of course. I like Ginny too. Just not when she gets in the way of D/H. I didn't want to make her bitchy about it. She can be cool sometimes. I got to work!), Icicle (Yup, they're finally together! Or they will be anyway. Well, anyway! Here's the chapter), Kay (Hee hee. She'll be very supportive later on. Not making any promises. Here's the update, and thanks), twinkiegirl (I don't know. I can't pronounce it. I always either say adredrenaline, or adrenanaline. Just the way it is, I guess. Here's more), arasoth69, menecarkawan, Ryan-sama (Well, thank you very much. I'm glad to hear it. 8-) I'm glad you liked it. Yes, cliffhangers do I have a certain amount of coolness in them. The Simpsons rock!), Copacabana (Whoa, I'm not saying all Christians are against homosexuals. Quite the opposite actually. But there are some who are against it and that's why I made Zabini like that. I'm aware I am biased. I happen to have very strong opinions, but I'm not the kind of person who won't let other people have theirs, and I won't preach to them unless they're doing it to me, or unless I'm ranting. So yeah. Well, Ginny may die later, but we'll have to see. Next chapter here!), firechild3 (Are you the author of the story with mutilating!Harry. I can't think of the title at the moment, but are you? Because if you are, that's cool. Please let me know. Glad it's your favourite chapter. Mine too, but you know that already. And don't worry, he will. Here's the update!), Lumos and Nox, Belle (Glad I improved your mood. Homer's great!), Cherican-osiris, LadyDeath, Cyber (Well, I'm totally honoured to hear that. I don't think I'm that great. Now you can find out what happens! You rock!), Diosa (Ooh! A nice long review! I'm glad! Morality is important, I think. Well I send my love to your friend in hopes that he'll figure out what to do. 8-) Brilliantly put! I agree completely. God doesn't make mistakes, everything does happen for a reason. Thank you for brightening my day. I am so glad you like it. I'm even more glad you reviewed. It's been amazing to hear from you. The Royal Tenebaums. Strange? No doubt. But it was damn good. Gene Hackman is brillaint. Really he is. So is Ben Stiller. Two of my favourite actors), Jubilee (Long review!!! Yay! Feelings for Draco? You bet. Pose a problem? Highly doubt it. You did mention that, but I agree. 8-) Colin is very cool. I love him. Well, here's this update! You're cool!), Katie of Gryffindor (Thank you, so glad you liked it. Here's more!!!!), Life is but a Dream2000, Klea (Glad you liked it), Hitomi Fanel (Like Escaflowne? Heh heh. I do. What a cool show. No more, though, which sucks. A smidgen of D/H? How about a LOT! I put it up by the weekend. Yay!)  
  
Wow. Very, very long. Thank you everyone. Thanks to Kiara, seeing as I only just found out she added my other story 'Perfect' to her favourites list. *Cough-check-that-out!-Cough* No shamless plugs. I was coughing! 8-)  
  
  
  
I sighed and stared out at the lake. I turned my head to find Harry standing right behind me. Although I'd been dating Colin for the past few weeks.... Harry still gave me that familiar feeling. And even though Colin and I had started out petending to date.... we were now *actually* dating.  
  
In the past four weeks that we'd been really dating, we'd become rather fond of each other. Since I figured Harry was going to be marrying Ginny, I thought I might as well try some dating. Now that I saw Harry again, I wasn't so sure.  
  
"Hi," Harry said, "I thought you might be here." I hastily got to my feet.  
  
"Did you want something?" I asked.  
  
"Oh, yes," he replied, "I was just wondering.... what was it that made you want to be our friends."  
  
"Well... I thought I'd enjoy Ron and Hermione's friendship..." I said.  
  
"Oh. Only Ron and Hermione?"  
  
"No offense Harry, but I don't really like Ginny that much. As a matter of fact, I sort of hate her. But if you two are together, I guess I have to respect that."  
  
"Draco, we called off the wedding," he said.  
  
"I'm sorry to hear that," I replied, not really registering what he'd said.  
  
"You are?" he asked, sort of surprised. And it hit me.  
  
"You did???" I demanded, shocked out of my wits.  
  
"Well - you can't - marry someone," he said, "When you're in love with someone else." He looked *straight* into my eyes.  
  
"I - what?" I said, feeling my knees go weak.  
  
"Yeah," Harry said, "I've been thinking a lot about that kiss in the classroom months ago.... and I think I'm in love with you."  
  
Fucking hell!!! This was the moment I'd been hoping for all year. Now that it was here.... I couldn't even properly enjoy it. I could not go out with him, seeing as I was now dating Colin. I opened my mouth to speak.  
  
And felt Harry's connect with it. It was heavenly. His mouth tasted of toothpaste, kethcup and strawberries. Weird mix, but I loved it. I immediately grabbed him by the arms and pushed him roughly against a nearby tree. I kissed him hungrily, devouring him, enjoying the fact that he seemed to be surrendering himself to me.  
  
And it was NOTHING like kissing Colin. Colin was an amazing kisser, he truly was, but Harry was earth-shattering. Maybe I'm a bit biased because I love him, but really...... he was brilliant.  
  
His right hand was on the side of my head, and his other one was making its way slowly downward. I slipped my tongue into his mouth, and stoked the roof of his mouth and his teeth, checking for any familiarity. He suddenly gasped.  
  
"Draco," my name came forth from his mouth. I pressed my erection against his leg, but it didn't help to stifle it. The feel of his hands roaming over my body was quite spectacular. And his mouth just exploring every inch of mine was, to put it simply, perfect. And I wanted to stand there all day, kissing him gently, roughly, smoothly, violently. I wanted to try everything with him.  
  
But I couldn't. There was one problem. Colin happened to be my boyfriend. And I knew this wasn't fair to either Harry or Colin. So I gently pushed Harry away, knowing I'd regret it in the near future.  
  
Harry looked quite shocked.  
  
"Was that supposed to be absolutely amazing?" Harry asked. Oh.... I fell in love with him all over again.  
  
"I don't know.... you're the boss of you.... Harry, as much as I truly enjoyed that, I happen to have a boyfriend."  
  
"Well yeah, there's *Colin*," he said, like that didn't matter, "But I mean... he'll understand, I'm sure."  
  
"Understand what?"  
  
"That we're together now," he replied.  
  
"But we're not."  
  
"Yes we are - aren't we?"  
  
"Harry, Colin's my boyfriend. I don't care how much I love you, I'm not going to hurt him."  
  
"Where have I heard that before?" Harry said, smiling sweetly. I almost kissed him again.  
  
"Stop being so darn cute!" I scolded, and Harry looked so adorably innocent... I couldn't help but press my lips to his again, "No! I can't do this. It's betrayal of the worst kind."  
  
"But...." Harry said, his hands somehow finding the zipper of my jeans.  
  
"Shit, Harry! You - you can't just come up to me, looking all sexy, and expect me to shag you."  
  
"Why not?" he asked, cuiously.  
  
"Well, Jesus! Maybe because you just broke up with your fiance. And it was not me. I may be in love with you, but Colin's my boyfriend, and I should at least explain it to him before I jump into bed with you."  
  
"Okay.... I respect that," Harry said.  
  
"Thank you....." I said, "I'm going to go find Colin. We'll have to work something out. This is what I've been begging God, if there is one, for since last summer."  
  
"I'm glad it worked out for you," Harry said, "But go find Colin, before I kiss you again." I smirked.  
  
"I knew you found me irresitible," I said.  
  
"I find *you* irresistible.... the way it sounds, it's the other way around." He looked beautiful trying to be all sarcastic and failing miserably. I wanted to kiss him, but instead, I got this overwhelming urge to lick his face.  
  
So I gently pulled his face toward me, and Harry opened his mouth for a kiss. I turned his head to the side and licked his face from chin to forehead, right over the lightning bolt-shaped scar. When I pulled away, Harry was shaking uncontrollably.  
  
"I have a feeling I'm supposed to think that's incredibly weird....." he said, and I felt stupid, "But all I can really think is that it was incredibly sexy." Then he launched himself at me, kissing me fiercely. It was one of those hungry ones, where I guess Harry wanted to taste me. Because his tongue was probing every inch of it. Usually that's seriously annoying, but with Harry, it was amazing.  
  
Suddenly bursting with lust, I put my hand over his growing erection but the material of his trousers set a momentary block between my hand and his member. (A/N: I need another word for penus. Help me). I'd have to make do. I started stroking it, and Harry shot away from me.  
  
"What's wrong?" I asked, longing to feel his mouth on mine again.  
  
"Nothing...." Harry said, "That was just very unexpected.... you're really gentle. When I was coming down here to talk to you, I was afraid you might be really violent with me. Just because of the way you used to act, I guess."  
  
"Well I can be violent, but only if you want me to...." I drawled, and grinned, because it was a joke. Harry smiled.  
  
"I don't know why I was with Ginny, when I've been wanting to kiss *you* all these months. Looking at you right now, I feel like I could take you and.... well, have my way with you, as lame as that sounds. All the times I've looked at you and wanted to kill you for not having at least tried to show me you love me."  
  
"Hey!" I said, "That day in the classroom was the worst day of my life because you turned me down. Don't you tell me I never tried. I damn near committed suicide that day. And it was because of *Colin* that I didn't."  
  
"I know. And I'm sorry.... Maybe I should have just broken up with Ginny.... but I was so confused. Afterward, I couldn't get you off of my mind. Then you told everyone you were gay, and for some reason I found that incredibly attractive. I was drawn to you. Then the dreams started."  
  
"Dreams?" I said, voice higher than normal.  
  
"Yes. The wildly exciting, intimate, passionate and beautiful dreams. You were always in them. Sometimes you'd be completely gentle, others you'd be horribly violent. But no matter what, I always woke up feeling as though I'd wished they weren't just dreams."  
  
"Well.... I started to realize I didn't get dreams like that about Ginny. I thought maybe it was because I actually got to make love to Ginny and perhaps there was no reason to have wet dreams about her. I was already doing everything I wanted to, kind of thing. But then I realized that kissing Ginny didn't give me that wonderful feeling. And I remembered that kiss in the classroom. How amazing that kiss was." My breath caught in my throat.  
  
"I - have to go talk to Colin." I stumbled away from him and ran at breakneck speed back up to castle. This was simply too much to take in. So I ran. I slowed down as I walked into the entrance hall and along the corridor. Suddenly, someone grabbed me by the hand from behind and pulled me into a ferocious kiss that made my knees buckle. I hungrily kissed back. I slowly pulled away, feeling absolutely on fire.  
  
"Harry," I whispered. There was silence, as I breathed deeply, unable to see in the dark dorridor.  
  
"I'm NOT Harry," came Colin's rather irritated voice. I clapped a hand to my mouth in shock and backed away.  
  
"Colin!" I said in surprise, not feeling on fire any more, "I'm sorry! I thought you were Harry!"  
  
"Obviously," he said flatly. Then he stepped out of the shadows. He looked angry, but mostly he looked hurt, "Look I know you like Harry, but I thought you could at least tell the difference between the two of us. You know, like at least I don't lie to the people I love."  
  
"Colin," I said and I knew there were tears on my cheeks. I knew what was going to become of this conversation, "I know. I'm really sorry."  
  
"You know, I was just coming to tell you that I think I love you.... but if you imagine me to be Harry when you're kissing me -"  
  
"No, no!" I said desperately, "I don't imagine you as Harry. I was just with Harry, and he and Ginny broke up and -"  
  
"And you were coming to break it off with me, now that Harry's single."  
  
I hated to admit it, even to myself, but that was exactly what I had been about to do. Now I wasn't so sure. Actually, yesterday, I'd really thought about it. And I'd come to the conclusion that perhaps I loved Colin, too. Not nearly as much as I loved Harry, but enough to be with him. After all, who was there with me when Harry had said he didn't love me? Who'd been there to comfort me? Who had been my best friend for months? Who had kissed me in the Great Hall in front of Harry just to make him jealous?  
  
Colin.  
  
I realised as I looked at Colin, that he loved me too. That was the last thing I wanted. Hadn't Pansy said she was in love with me? And Harry, just now? And now Colin as well? How could three people be in love with one person? And why would they be in love with such an idiotic person, who continually hurt people?  
  
Me. I had hurt Pansy many, many times. Looking at colin, I knew that I loved Harry more. I knew I wanted to be with Harry. I knew I'd break Colin's heart (and it was the absolute last thing I wanted to do). It would be ALL my fault.  
  
I looked at Colin and tears streamed down my face. Real, true tears. I thought about it, and realized this was the first time I'd ever cried proper tears (excluding that tim ein the bathroom). I cried a lot, but not like this. Colin reached up and wiped them off my face as they came down. Each time one did, he wiped it away. It was quite intimate and I wanted nothing more than to kiss Colin and have it over with, but I couldn't.  
  
"Yes, Colin, I'm breaking up with you." Then the tears started for him. It was the worst moment of my life. Worse than finding out Harry was marrying Ginny, worse than thinking Harry didn't love me, worse than finding out Pansy loved me and I couldn't do a thing about it, worse than any moment of my life.  
  
Watching Colin crying was torture. It truly was. So I pulled him into my arms and hugged him tightly. He started sobbing, so I did what he'd done ages ago. I pushed him to arms length.  
  
"It's my loss. It's my loss, and I am so sorry for putting you through this pain," I said through my tears, and began kissing him on *his* face. Everywhere but his lips. Colin cried harder, and we just stood there for what felt like hours. Crying and hugging and apologizing to each other. It was the worst and yet it was the best moment of my life. Suddenly I saw things in perspective.  
  
You can never be completely happy. You can never have things both ways. In life you get many choices, and the choices you make effect you drastically. Although we don't think about it when we make them, our choices could mean the difference between life and death, good and evil, right and wrong, love and hate. Even those small decisions like what colour shirt you're going to wear could change your life completely. Maybe you'll meet a terrific person who likes you because you wore red. But if you had worn green, then maybe they wouldn't have noticed you.  
  
And I saw that I had make the right choice. For even if I loved Colin, I loved Harry more. I couldn't give up a chance of being with the person I've loved for almost a whole year. I truly couldn't. I knew that although Colin was upset, he probably agreed. He knew that I was doing the right thing as well. Hopefully he also knew that he would find someone who loved him. Someone who loved him enough to be with him until he died.  
  
God, I hope he knew.  
  
*  
  
"Hey Honey," Harry said, sitting in my lap at the Gryffindor table. Hermione smirked.  
  
"Get a room," she said. But she was smiling. She was just as chipper as me about all of this. Harry and I had been dating for exactly one week. Ginny, Colin and Pansy were actually happy to see us together, as was most of the school. We really didn't hide our relationship from anyone.  
  
Harry was about to kiss me when I shook my head and grunted a little. Colin was right in front of me. One thing I didn't like doing was being physical in front of people. In private we could be physical all we wanted. I pushed him off my lap, and continued eating my lunch.  
  
"I was trying to do an essay for Potions, and when I finally fnished it, I realized I'd actually done one for Transfiguration," Harry said, piling shephed's pie on to his plate. I burst out laughing, choked on some salmon, and spat it into a napkin.  
  
"That's hilarious," I said, practically crying with mirth.  
  
"Quiet you," Harry said, "You're the one I was thinking about when I got so disoriented."  
  
"Blame my parents for my charming smile," I said, and just as I spoke, a bird flew over and dropped a roll of parchment on to my plate, "Ah, shit. I was hoping this wouldn't come."  
  
"What is it?" Harry asked.  
  
"Well," I replied, opening it up to find two letters, "A letter from my father, and a letter from my mother." I opened up the one from my mother, knowing it would be a little more pleasant than my father's.  
  
"Why are they writing to you when they've barely done so all year?" Harry asked.  
  
"Well, in this morning's Daily Prophet, there was an article about the two of us being together. My father reads the paper during breakfast. So that would have given him about two and a half hours to write me a detailed letter about how wrong homosexuality is, get my mother to write one, and then send it here. Mordecai - that's the bird's name - is extremely fast."  
  
"Well, you better read them," Hermione said.  
  
"Shhh..." I muttered, as I started to read. This is what it said:  
  
Draco,  
  
Your father told me all about your fooling around with other boys. I highly disapprove of it, and so does your father. He's sending you a letter as well. I hope you understand the shame you've put on this family, and I'm sure your father will have a few things to say about it.  
  
-Your Mother  
  
"The stupid bitch can't even sign her own name," I said, feeling the anger boil up inside me, "She just repeats herself because she has the IQ of a fucking fish, and can't think of anything to say besides 'your father'. Bet you a million galleons the bloody woman had to get out our old thesauras to find half these words."  
  
There was silence as everyone took in how much I disliked my parents. Hermione looked sympathetic, Ron looked amused, Harry looked shocked and Colin was trying not to listen and failing.  
  
"What'd your father say?" Ron asked through a mouthful of something.  
  
"Well, this should be fun, let's see...." I muttered, glancing at the letter. I read it in my head, just to be sure there was nothing in it that would be quite obscene. There was. This one read:  
  
You,  
  
I no longer consider you my son. There is not a chance in the world I'm going to introduce you to people as my son after this fag nonsense. I thought you were smarter than this. The hate I feel for you right now is incredible, so do not be surprised if I come down there and beat you. If I was there at the moment, you'd be yelling for everyone to hear that you are indeed perfectly normal. The only upside to this, is that when I see you on the battlefield, I'll be able to kill you and feel absolutely alive doing it. Thank Blaise Zabini for me. I hope it hurt a lot. I hate you.  
  
Lucius Malfoy.  
  
Everyone waited for my reaction. I just sat there, staring blankly at the letter.  
  
"Draco, honey, are you all right?" Harry asked. In response, a huge sob escaped my throat, and I dropped the letter lightly on to my plate with the one from my mother. I banged the table with my fist very hard and made several people jump and turn to face me. I closed my eyes as the tears fell freely.  
  
Harry immediately put his arm around me and massaged my back with his hand. I started crying more and Hermione took my hand in hers, although she was sitting across from me, and squeezed it gently. I felt so stupid crying, but I couldn't help it. No kid ever wants his or her father to hate them. I had to get away.  
  
"Excuse me," I managed to squeak out as I picked up the two letters and ran as fast as I could out of the Great Hall. Away from prying eyes. I dashed up to the Slytherin common room, into my room and instead of throwing myself on the bed in tears, I sat down at my desk and pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. I breathed deeply a few times, to sort out my thoughts, then I pressed my quill to the parchment and wrote:  
  
Lucius Malfoy,  
  
I never considered you my father. I don't want to be introduced as your son to anyone by you. Guess I'm dumb, then. The hate I've always felt for you is incredible, do not be surprised if I don't care. If I was with you at the moment, I'd commit suicide so I wouldn't have to see your face. And when you see me on the battle field, I hope you're good and ready. I'll be sure to give Zabini the message, and as a matter of fact, it did hurt a lot. A lot more than this letter did. I hate you, too.  
  
Me.  
  
I got up, and went to the owlery to get the letter delivered to my father. And when the owl took off, I imagined my father would read my letter, and then he'd get up and start practicing his duelling. He'd probably know what mess he was be getting into. He *would* want to be good and ready. I couldn't wait to see him again.  
  
  
  
Ooh. Pissed Draco. Don't you love it!? Well, what did you think? I thought it was weak and *really* short. But I felt that if I looked at the chapter for another day, I would have been driven to insanity. I decided you wouldn't want that, as I have to finish this story.  
  
But the problem with this story is, I'm not sure how to finish it. For the past few weeks, at least, I've been wondering how I was going to end this fic. Now I've come to a fork in the road. And I need, not just want, NEED your opinions. There are two options.  
  
Either the next chapter will be the last one of this story, and then I will start a sequel where we'll actually see some Voldemort, Lucius, older Draco and Harry, Ron and Hermione, the other Weasleys, lots of food, and maybe that baby Draco was talking about in Chapter 3 will make an appearance.  
  
Or I'll just continue with this story and try and stick all those things into this one. Which will mean, there will be lots of delay in updating, but you'll probably get longer chapter. I'll have to work slightly harder for this option, but it will hopefully be worthwhile.  
  
I know what I want to do, but it's not enough. Help, guys (and girls)! I'm stuck. Please give me a hand. I'll love you for ever! Please let me know what you think. I'm suffering here. Please!!! XOXOXOXO!!!  
  
And before I go, understand that whatever option gets chosen (is that a word?) the next update may not be up for awhile. I've got some of the next chapter written, but there's loads more to go. So please, give me your advice. I truly value your opinions. 8-) Gotta go walk my dog. Ciao!  
  
Tine 


	10. Don't Stop Me Now

Chapter 10 (Gasp!)  
  
Disclaimer: After ten chapters, you'd think they'd get the message. That I really am not JK Rowling and never will be, seeing as my initials are NCB. It just wouldn't work. I don't own Harry Potter, nor do I particularly want to. I happen to be stalking Draco at the moment, and I never stalk more than one person. Well, sometimes I make an exception. I just hope Rowling's not about to put a restraining order on me. Then I'd die. 8-) Stop looking at me.  
  
Rating: R  
  
Author's Note: WELL! After getting so many wonderful reviews, I got right to it and started writing. Just so I could make all of you happy. Your reviews were eloquent, long, helpful, brilliant, and they got me all teary eyed. I was quite taken aback at all the reviews I received after only one day. I knew I'd have to finish this chapter as soon as possible. And the story.  
  
Yes, ladies and gentlemen. After practically every one of you said you wanted Option 1, adding the fact that I was not looking forward to doing Option 2, I decided which one I'm going to do. Option 3! Just kidding. There is no Option 3. Hahahahahaha. Aren't I funny? You people- Um.... no. Me- Oh... all right then.  
  
Anyways. Heh. Option 1 was my choice. So this is the last chapter of Know Your Enemy. *Jumps on bed and sobs dramatically* Oh don't act like that. You knew it had to end some time. But don't you worry. Check my bio every once in awhile (like, every day) for the first chapter of....... Know Yourself. Heh. I'm not creative. I don't try to be. 8-) Well enough of this. Stop reading my blubbering and start reading the chapter. I wouldn't be surprised if you had already skipped over it. Good for you. It's just my incessant rambling, after all.  
  
Oh wait. Don't you want to read the responces to your reviews? Well! They're in a separate chapter. The next one. So chapter 11 is the responses to your reviews, because I'm lazy and don't feel like typing it here and making such a long Author's Note.  
  
I know this took awhile to get out, but I had school (we get our marks back this week!) to work through. And then I got all miserable because this fic is ending. So I started moping, and I couldn't write anything for a couple days. I started up again, but this chapter doesn't have much slash because I'm not in a slashy mood. But you WILL get slash in the sequel. I promise you!  
  
So enjoy this, and let me know what you thought. Ah revoir, mes amies! (Translation: Fuck the translation and read the story. 8-) Love you).  
  
  
  
Everyone was relaxing in the Potions classroom. Sound strange? I'll bet it does. We were relaxing because we'd just finished our Potions final. And it was the last of our NEWTs. Now we had a full week to just wait around and see what our marks would be.  
  
But the Potions exam had been partciularly difficult. Snape had been breathing over my shoulder for the past two hours. We'd been making a very complex potion, which only added to the fear. I was terrified that I'd fail the exam. Then I'd be screwed. Luckily, I felt I'd done all right.  
  
I had my head on the table in front of me, and I was just starting to doze off, when Professor Dumbledore walked into the room. Ron poked me and I sat up straight, and said "What did I miss?" rather loudly.  
  
"Not a thing, Harry. But I would advise you to stay awake during class," Dumbledore said. My cheeks reddened slightly, and I nodded. Then Dumbledore went and stood next to Snape.  
  
"Good afternoon, Albus," Snape said, and Dumbledore nodded at him.  
  
"Traditionally at Hogwarts, the Head Boy and Girl make speeches at the graduation ceremony," Dumbledore said, and Hermione and Draco both sat up straight. "Which would mean, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy are to speak at your graduation ceremony. I'm sure they will do a fine job."  
  
Draco's hand shot into the air. Dumbledore called on him.  
  
"I don't want to make a speech. I hate making speeches. Please don't make me speak in front of people. I hate doing that!" he begged. Dumbledore smiled.  
  
"Every year, at least one of the two selections says that. I still don't know what to tell you. But my advice is, think of it as a few words. Just pick a fond memory, and talk about it. It's quite easy," the wise man said, and Draco nodded. "Goodbye." He then smiled and walked out of the Potions classroom. It was strange, seeing as Dumbledore doesn't usually come to the classroom at all. I figured it was because the Head Boy and Girl were in that class together.  
  
"You're free to go. At least I won't have to see any of your faces again," Snape said. I was shocked, to say the least. Snape usually says horrible things, but not quite like that. But already people were bolting for the door. Seamus stuck his head back in.  
  
"We won't have to see your face, either," he shouted, saluted Snape and took off. Ron and Dean were dying of laughter as they went out of the classroom together. Hermione looked disapproving, but even she couldn't help a hearty laugh. Everyone else eventually left as well. Except Draco. He was approaching Snape's desk. I pretended to leave as well, but stopped outside the classroom and listened.  
  
"Well, I guess this is sort of goodbye," Draco said.  
  
"I see you've joined Potter's little fan club," Snape observed, sneering, and completely ignoring Draco's comment.  
  
"No. I'm not his fan. I happen to love him." I felt all warm inside hearing those words.  
  
"I see no difference," Snape said, in exactly the same way he'd done in fourth year when Hermione's teeth had grown much longer. I thought Draco might whimper, and perhaps run out of the Potions lab in tears. But of course, he didn't.  
  
"I guess you've never been in love then," Draco replied, coolly. Go Draco!  
  
"I have actually," he said. Hey. Snape in love. I *guess* it's possible. I listened for Draco's reply.  
  
"Then you must have been hurt real bad by them, if you don't see a difference between following someone around, and being in love," Draco responded, "I pity you. And I pray the person that hurt you finds you and cures you of this, Professor. What a shame. Love is so wonderful." Then he walked out the door and smashed right into me.  
  
"Shit, be careful!" I hissed, as quietly as I could.  
  
"You're the one standing in the doorway, you little eavesdropper," Draco hissed back. He smiled. We hooked hands and started walking down the corridor.  
  
"So, who do you think Snape used to love?" I asked.  
  
"I don't think, I know," Draco replied, "I pretend I don't, so he doesn't suspect anything. And I'm not going to tell you. Because I know you won't believe it."  
  
"Oh come on, Draco. And how do you know, anyway?" I demanded.  
  
"I happen to be quite sneaky."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.  
  
"Oh," he said, "Well, in my sixth year, Snape and I got drunk together."  
  
"What!?" I shouted.  
  
"It's not as bad as it sounds. It was when I found out I was gay. It was quite a shock at first. Snape's been a father figure for so long. Thing is, when I found him the day I realized I was gay, he was quite drunk. He told me to help myself to the some alcohol, and I was so confused I did. I got a little tipsy, but he was so smashed, it's not even funny. He told me who he fell in love with. He has no recollection of that night. I did tell him I was gay, but he forgot."  
  
"You have to tell me who it is, Draco," I said.  
  
"It'd be a betrayal of the worst kind," he said, shaking his head.  
  
"Do you always say that?"  
  
"When I have to," he admitted, and I grinned.  
  
"Oh come on, Draco."  
  
"Look...." he said, as we turned a corner, "I could tell you, but you'd probably die of shock."  
  
"Well, give me a clue. Is it someone I know well?" I asked.  
  
"Not in so many words," Draco replied, pulling his hair into a lazy ponytail. It had been getting in his eyes for the past five minutes.  
  
"All right, is it someone I *know*?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Okay.... what's the gender?" I asked.  
  
"Female," he replied, smiling.  
  
"Okay! I was starting to think Snape might be gay. But it's a woman. Is she married?" I asked.  
  
"Was," he corrected. We stopped at the portrait of the Fat Lady.  
  
"So she's divorced," I guessed. Draco looked like he was about to tell me I was wrong, so I guessed again quickly.  
  
"Um, she's dead." I said it rather jokingly, but Draco nodded, "Oh. I was just joking. Well, if she's dead, and I know her....."  
  
"Password?" the Fat Lady interrupted us. But there was no answer, because Draco was right. I was practically dying of shock.  
  
"Jiggly-worm," Draco said for me and the portrait admitted it. He nudged me and I slowly walked into the common room, feeling as though I was going to fall over. Ron and Hermione hurried over to say something, but then they saw my face.  
  
"What's wrong?" they asked in unison.  
  
"Snape was in love with my mum." They looked confused, so Draco elaborated.  
  
"We were getting into a conversation about Professor Snape, and I sort of told him that Snape was in love with his mum."  
  
"Well," Hermione said and all eyes turned to her, "It would make sense."  
  
"What do you mean?" I asked.  
  
"If your mother was with your father, that would only worsen the anger Snape felt toward him. It would also explain why he hates *you* so much. You're the offspring of the woman he loved. But she had you with another man. If Snape loved your mum, seeing you every day would be a reminder of how your dad got the woman he loved, and well, he didn't."  
  
"That sucks," Ron said. Everyone looked at him. "What? It does."  
  
"Well, why did you act like you didn't know anything in the classroom, Draco?" I asked.  
  
"Professor Snape is a very observant man. I figured I had to be rather curt toward him, or he'd pick it up. I think one day I'll tell him what happened. Maybe the last day of school. I don't know. I'm a little scared of his reaction."  
  
"I would be too," Ron said, and everyone looked at him again. "Well, I would! Stop looking at me like that! You know I'm no good at this caring stuff." We all laughed.  
  
"It's kind of sad," I said, "I mean.... imagine finding someone you think you love, and then finding out they don't love you." Draco cleared his throat and shuffled his feet.  
  
"Yeah, it is," Hermione agreed, "So you can hardly blame him for being so cold to you all these years."  
  
"Well, I agree with you, Hermione," I said, "Except, I think it's a little childish. It's not like I chose who my parents were. It's not like *anyone* does. You can't blame a person for their heritage. I have sympathy for Snape, but I think he should get over it and move on."  
  
"Quite right," Draco said and the conversation was dropped there. It took me months to pick up on what exactly went wrong with that conversation. It took me even longer to understand it fully.  
  
*  
  
It was some time in the afternoon. Draco, Ron, Hermione and I were sprawled out on the grass.  
  
"I was thinking, that in my speech, I would talk about how I met both of you," Hermione said, her head resting in Ron's lap. Draco's head was in mine. "Now I'm not sure. I don't know what I'm going to do."  
  
"Well, whatever you do, I'm sure it'll be lovely," Ron said. I made gagging sounds, and Ron threw an acorn at me.  
  
"Wow, that was surprisingly sweet," Hermione said and Ron pulled her upright to plant a kiss on her lips.  
  
"I think Hagrid's dating Madame Maxime. He seems happier lately, and he's always talking about her," Hermione said, snuggling close to Ron. More gagging sounds, more acorns thrown.  
  
"Yeah, everyone deserves to be happy," I said, feeling so giddy I wanted to run around in circles for awhile.  
  
"Yeah...." Hermione said in a far off voice.  
  
"Don't you love the sun?" Ron asked and Hermione started laughing.  
  
"Yes Ron, generally the sun is something you like," she said.  
  
"No, I mean don't you LOVE the sun?" Ron said and started giggling. We were all really giddy.  
  
"Yeah! The sun's great!" I said, pulling my hands through Draco's hair.  
  
"Dad told me he's thinking of getting me a job at the ministry. I told him no," Ron said.  
  
"You did?" Hermione asked, sounding surprised.  
  
"Hermione, you know I want to be an auror," he said.  
  
"Yeah but...." Hermione started, then she stopped.  
  
"What?" he demanded.  
  
"Well, I just don't know if you have the marks to become an auror, sweetie," Hermione said.  
  
"You just wait," Ron said an a warning voice.  
  
"Well, Hermone, what are you going to do?" I asked.  
  
"I don't know. There are so many things to choose from," Hermione replied. I nodded. There *were* a lot of things to choose from. I wasn't sure myself.  
  
"Hey," Draco muttered, and I jumped. I thought he was asleep, "I want to go visit Hagrid. I mean, you guys are such good friends with him. I want to see what's so great about him."  
  
"We were talking about Hagrid ages ago," Ron said.  
  
"We were not," Draco argued, "You were. I was thinking about it afterward, while you were rambling about the sun, and now I want to go see Hagrid, with or without you."  
  
"Okay, Draco, we'll go with you," I said, and he jumped up.  
  
"Yes!" he said, sounding excited. Hermione and Ron got up slowly. Draco reached out and grabbed my hand, and we started walking. We only had to walk for about two minutes before we saw his hut.  
  
It was sad. As soon as Hagrid's hut came into view, I got all choked up. I realized that this was one of the last times I'd ever see it, and therefore, maybe one of the last times I'd see Hagrid. Draco squeezed my hand in understanding. Hagrid was sitting on the steps of his house, playing his little flute. Fang was sniffing a tree not too far from him.  
  
"Hey Hagrid," we chrused, and he stopped playing.  
  
(A/N: I'm not even going to attempt his accent. It always annoys me when people try to write it, and end up doing it wrong. So, in case I mess up, I'm just going to write him without his accent).  
  
"Hello, you four!" he said happily, "I was wondering when you'd come and see me. Sit down and we'll talk." We took his advice. "Hermione, Ron, you two look like a very happy couple. You look perfect together. Remind me a bit of your mum and dad, Harry."  
  
I smiled. I'd been thinking a lot about them lately. I wondered what they'd think of my relationship with Draco. I wondered how they would have felt toward it. Would they have been mean, like Draco's parents? I doubted it. But I wasn't sure. It scared me. Quite a lot actually.  
  
"Yes, Professor McGonagall mentioned that as well. She also said you two act like they fid," Hermione said, nodding at Draco and I. Draco moved his arm to encircle my waist, and grinned.  
  
"You!" Hagrid roared, and Draco jumped.  
  
"Me," he squeaked.  
  
"I don't believe we've been properly introduced. You're Draco? I'm Hagrid," he said, holding out his trach can lid sized hand. Draco looked at it a moment, and then held out his. They shook hands, and smiled.  
  
"I've been doing that a lot lately," Draco said, smiling wider.  
  
"Sometimes you need to meet people again...." Hagrid said.  
  
"Yes well, we all know what you think of Madame Maxime," Ron said and Hagrid blushed crimson. It was very funny, and we spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and teasing each other.  
  
I couldn't help but worry about the future. What if I never saw Hagrid again? I cherished what felt like the few last moments I'd have with him. I hugged him tighter than I'd ever hugged him before. I wante dothank him for everythign he'd ever doine for me in hat one hug. It was hard.  
  
He'd been th person who had told me everything about my past and present, and even my future. He was a bit of a father figure. I love him for it. I tried so hard to put all that into the hug. I hope he got the message.  
  
*  
  
"We will now have a few words from our Head Boy and Head Girl. Please put your hands together for Miss Hermione Granger," Dumbledore announced. The hall erupted into cheers and applause. It was the graduation ceremony. Instead of four house tables, there were many smaller, circular tables scattering the hall.  
  
Hermione stood up, beaming, and walked to the podium that was standing in the same place that the Sorting Hat had been seven years before. She grinned broadly at the seventh years and their respective families, before muttering the Sonorus spell and beginning her speech.  
  
"Since the very first time I read those magical words, 'You have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,' I imagined what this moment would be like. It's been a long seven years. I've laughed, I've cried, I've worked hard. My most memorable moments were being turned into a cat, and being petrified, both having took place in my second year here. They were the scariest moments of my life, but I remember them like I remember my mother's face.  
  
"I've always been a workaholic and I always will be. I'm always trying to do things better and succeed at something worthwhile. I've got the greatest friends anyone could ask for. My family and teachers have always been there for me. Even Professor Snape, who could be quite the jerk at times. He made comments about my apperance, and my craving to know more, but he always did his job. He made me want to learn. Even if it was just to prove him wrong, or to prove I knew something. At least I knew something, right?"  
  
"Now, I'm speaking for myself here, and that's not what I'm supposed to do. I'm supposed to speak for you too. But I'm sure you can relate to me. You've had memorable moments, you've been pestered by Professor Snape, you've worked hard at something, and you're here now."  
  
"You've got to remember that with the war against Voldemort, the next few years of your life are going to be extremely difficult. Whatever path you choose will make all the difference, and I pray you choose the right path. Congratulations, all of you." She smiled and sat down. Ron nudged me.  
  
"Doesn't she look beautiful? All those years of studying were worth it. Just to see her smiling up there," he said. I looked at Ron and almost started crying. It was the sweetest thing I'd ever heard my best friend say. Draco was getting up to make his speech, though. I sat up straighter to hear what he had to say.  
  
"Everyone, please give a round of applause for Mr Draco Malfoy, this year's Head Boy." The hall started clapping and cheering again and there were a few catcalls from the girls and even a guy.  
  
Then Seamus yelled, "Make your boyfriend proud!" and everyone started laughing. Draco smiled and stepped up to the podium, whispered Sonorus and breathed deeply.  
  
He looked perfect. Really he did. His hair was hanging loosely past his shoulders, his black dress robes billowing to the floor. He made eye contact with me and I smiled at him. It seemed to give him strength and he began.  
  
"Well, when Professor Dumbledore told me I was to give a speech for you, I was in a bit of a predicament. I hate giving speeches. But then I thought of it as a few words, as Professor Dumbledore put it, and I felt a smidge better."  
  
"When I first started at Hogwarts, I was a shrimpy dork. I thought I was better than everyone. I strutted around Hogwarts like I owned it, using my father's name as a way to get what I wanted, with my two cronies at my side. By the way, thanks guys," he said, grinning at Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
"I like to think I'm a bit different now. I'm still a spoiled brat who obsesses over his hair, but I've come to care about people. When I found out I was gay, thing finally went into perspective for me. I couldn't tease people about their bloodline, because they could come righ tback at me about my sexual orientation."  
  
"I'm not here to tell you about that. I'm here to tell you that if you make mistakes, you can fix them. And if you think you're falling, you can get help. I could have fallen, but with the help of a wonderful person and a few good friends, I survived."  
  
"Believe in fate, believe in love and soulmates, believe in miracles. Things can happen. When it seems like life's got you down, it'll suddenly surprise with you something or someone amazing. Don't ever think you can't survive. In the end, it all depeneds on your decision. Make the wrong one, and things will go wrong. But don't worry about that. You will make the right one. You will. If there;'s hope for me, there's hope for the rest of us."  
  
"Go into the world. Love every minute you're blessed on this planet. I've decided that there must be something looking out for me. It might be God, or it might be something else. But *something's* looking out for me. It's looking out for you too. I pray you find it. I pray *you* survive, and I have every confidence that you will. I hope to meet every one of you again in life. But until then, good luck."  
  
Draco smiled, turned and walked over to our table. The hall applauded for Hermione and Draco both as he sat down next to me and kissed me passionately. I put my hands around his neck and kissed him back.  
  
"I love you," I whimpered, tears flowing from my eyes, "I love you so much."  
  
After all the applauding, we sat down again. I waited for the food to appear on our plates, but when I looked up, I saw Neville approaching the podium. He started speaking.  
  
"You're all wondering what the heck I'm doing up here. I've never done anything worth celebrating. But there is someone who has. I apporached Professor Dumbledore with an idea last week."  
  
"It was this. Just about every year, there is a boy who does something very spectacular. He accepts it willingly. He's been thrown into it, without any choice whatsoever, and he accepts without a second thought. Harry Potter."  
  
Oh Jesus.  
  
"I'm not giving him this award because he's the Boy-Who-Lived, or because he goes up against Voldemort, who's name you should all be able to speak by now. I'm giving it to him because he's Harry Potter. An amazing friend, a wonderful classmate, and a thoughtful, kind-hearted person. I've never met anyone a selfless as him. And whether or not you want to agree with me aloud, you do indeed agree deep down. Harry is brilliant. Get up here, Harry, and take this award. It's from all of us."  
  
I could hardly breathe. I was so shocked, Draco had to push me out of my seat and guide me to where Neville stood. I was sincerely shocked! I walked over to Neville, and he handed me a trophy. I looked at it a moment before tears spilled out of my eyes. Neville did the Sonorus spell for me as I started to give some sort of speech.  
  
"I - I'm overwhelmed. This is an honour. I really don't think I deserve this award, but I'm touched all the same. Thank you so much! I'm overwhlemed!" I said, beaming at everyone who was suddenly applauding me.  
  
I turned and hugged Neville as tightly as I could. Neville hugged me back, and I turned to the Head Table, where Dumbledore was starting to stand up. Suddenly, everyone was getting to their feet, and clapping their hands. I realized it was a standing ovation and I started crying even harder. Everywhere I looked, there were people clapping for me. It was quite an amazing moment. It's one of those memorable moments Hermione was talking about. I'll remember it for the rest of my life.  
  
*  
  
"So where are you going now?" Hagrid asked. We were standing near the train, sharing last words with classmates and teachers. The four of us were standing in front of Hagrid.  
  
"We're all going to get an apartment together for the summer. But until we can find an apartment, we're staying at The Burrow," Ron replied for us. We nodded our heads.  
  
"Getting an apartment together?" Hagrid asked, eyes twinkling mischeivously.  
  
"Yes, why do you ask?" Hermione inquired.  
  
"Oh no reason, just.... remember that you four lived practically together for the past seven years. Now that you're *actually* going to be living together, it's going to be quite different," he said.  
  
"Yeah right," I said, "We'll get along great, won't we?"  
  
"Yeah!" Draco, Hermione and Ron said in unison. Hagrid smiled and gather us into a group hug.  
  
"We'll see," he said, "We'll have to wait and see."  
  
  
  
And so will you! Because that's where this story ends. I think it's the lamest ending to a story in the entire world. But do remember, there is a sequel! Plus, I like leaving you with a cliffhanger of sorts.  
  
*Sniffle, sniffle* I'm so depressed. This story is over. Even if there is a sequel, it's just hard for me to grasp that it's over. So hard. I hope the seqeul to this will be just as good, if not better. I'm really going to work hard on it. Expect 'Know Yourself' out sometimes in the next couple weeks. Got to get ideas and whatnot. As Hagrid says, we'll just have to wait and see.  
  
All of you have been absolutely brilliant. You don't even know. Your comments, compliments, suggestions and feedback were the only things that kept me and this story going. I'm shocked at the many people who enjoyed this fic, and I truly hope you like the sequel.  
  
All the little things that have yet to be tied up, will be tied up in the sequel. Like Blaise Zabini... I bet you're all wondering what's going to happen to him. We'll have to wait and see. I have some evil plans for him. What about Snape? I said he'd be part of this story.... and he will. And Sirius! How come he didn't make a appearance? Don't worry, he will in the sequel. The Weasley clan will be a part of it, Voldemort will be in it and maybe some Hagrid and Dumbledore. And of course, the stuff we've all been wanting from the very beginning.  
  
DRACO/HARRY SLASH!!!!! Yes, there will be some! Harry, Draco, Ron and Hermione will all be in it, of course, and expect some sort of wedding. Which I will not go into detail with, as I'm very negative about weddings. Especially H/D weddings. I've not decided who will be gettiong married. There are a few candidates to choose from.  
  
Well, I mustn't give out too much information, so you'll just have to wait. I love you all dearly, and if you'd like a response to your review, leave your email address and I'll email my response to you. I promise! 8-) But you've got to ask.  
  
Go now.... and find more D/H slash fanfics. There are so many brillaint ones out there. One in particular that I'm quite enjoying is 'Blood Mingled' by _______. I don't know who it's by. But it's an awesome story. Read it if you can! Kisses and hugs for all of you, you're all very brilliant. Thanks a million times for everything. You've been so wonderful. Give yourself a pat on the back.  
  
Ciao!  
  
Tine 


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